#being horrified that drogon burned a child

[agentrouka-blog]

"Fire burns them. Fire is always hungry."- Bran(ADWD II). "He was always hungry, her Drogon. Hungry and growing fast."- Dany(ASOS I). Fire is many times associated with hunger. Fire consumes. Jon compared R'hllor to 'hungry fire god.' The dragons during DOOM of Valyria were consumed by 'hungry fires.'

Hi anon!

Of course, it is only in its excess that the fire becomes monstrous.

Numerous times in the books, life-giving little fires are described as being "fed" by human hand. Human beings and their animals, children, all living beings must feed, as well. Humans need heat, to stay warm, to cook, to create. Humans need to consume and want to consume. We desire, we want, we make use of the world around us.

As such, fire represents a facet of all life, certainly of all humans.

GRRM doesn't condemn "consuming" or killing for consumption, he doesn't condemn hunger. Only excess and abuse.

Where does he want our sympathy to reside when comparing two cases of hunger in "The Sacrifice"? The starving soldiers practiced cannibalism but is that remotely as horrific as the punishment visited upon them? Both are cases of humans roasting humans, but still very distinct from one another.

Stakes. Nightfall would be on them soon, and the red god must be fed. An offering of blood and fire, the queen's men called it, that the Lord of Light may turn his fiery eye upon us and melt these thrice-cursed snows. (...)

Asha had been as horrified as the rest when the She-Bear told her that four Peasebury men had been found butchering one of the late Lord Fell's, carving chunks of flesh from his thighs and buttocks as one of his forearms turned upon a spit, but she could not pretend to be surprised. (...)

"He was dead," the weeping boy screamed, as the flames licked up his legs. "We found him dead … please … we was hungry …" (ADWD, The Sacrifice)

Human beings must eat to live. But the red god, the greedy fire, demands homage and sacrifice that sustains nothing, only destroys.

GRRM makes a fairly clear and consistent distinction between natural hunger and consumption meant to sustain - and the kind of hunger that is psychological and unchecked, that does not stop consuming until everything is destroyed, because it does not feed life, only power. 

When Dany murders Mirri Maz Duur - a fellow living human being - she consumes her body and soul in order to wake a magical weapon to serve herself. She does not sustain life in any way, she extinguishes a life in order to create constantly hungry creatures to mirror the hunger inside her soul that comprehends no food but power.

He wanted something from her, but Sansa did not know what it was. He looks like a starving child, but I have no food to give him. Why won't he leave me be? (ASOS, Sansa IV)

The hungry soul is a dangerous thing because it can turn everything around it into its food, whether freely given or not.

Dragons make no distinction between animals and humans, they burn and eat it all, and Dany struggles with that knowledge for a while, though she has been pretending it away early on. 

"You warned me that only death could pay for life. I thought you meant the horse."

"No," Mirri Maz Duur said. "That was a lie you told yourself. You knew the price." (AGOT, Daenerys IX)

Animal or person, it should make a difference but doesn’t. She forgets Hazzea's name, and embraces her dragon side in the grasslands. It alienates her from her own humanity. It turns her into a predator herself, or rather further reveals her for one.

There's a great deal of significance in the blurring of lines that occurs when humans begin to identify more with predators than with each other, a blurring of lines that goes hand in hand with the difference between scavenging meat off the dead and actively killing to consume. Actively killing just to kill. Murder and butchery reduce human beings to consumable goods.

"I killed my first man at twelve. I've lost count of how many I've killed since then. High lords with old names, fat rich men dressed in velvet, knights puffed up like bladders with their honors, yes, and women and children too—they're all meat, and I'm the butcher.  (ACOK, Sansa IV)

One presumed to threaten me, so I killed him and fed him to the other three. They refused to eat of their friend's flesh at first, but when they grew hungry enough they had a change of heart. Men are meat." (AFFC, The Reaver)

He died weeping and alone when I ripped his second life from him. Varamyr had devoured his heart himself. He taught me much and more, and the last thing I learned from him was the taste of human flesh. (ADWD, Prologue)

The dead men's clothes and coins and valuables went into a bin for sorting. Their cold flesh would be taken to the lower sanctum where only the priests could go; what happened in there Arya was not allowed to know. Once, as she was eating her supper, a terrible suspicion seized hold of her, and she put down her knife and stared suspiciously at a slice of pale white meat. The kindly man saw the horror on her face. "It is pork, child," he told her, "only pork." (AFFC, Arya II)

Lamb and dog and mutton and the flesh of man. Some of her little grey cousins were afraid of men, even dead men, but not her. Meat was meat, and men were prey. She was the night wolf. (ADWD, The Blind Girl)

When human beings cease to be persons and become consumable goods, it’s time to worry.

"He would make a monster of me," she whispered, "a butcher queen." But then she thought of Drogon far away, and the dragons in the pit. There is blood on my hands too, and on my heart. We are not so different, Daario and I. We are both monsters. (ADWD, Daenerys IV)

That’s something GRRM illustrates with the excesses of fire, but the fire itself is only a metaphor for a facet of human nature that can degrade down to monstrocity when unchecked. It’s visible in other imagery, the butcher, the cannibal, the sadistic murderer, the greed for power that would observe the beauty of a conflagration over the horror it inflicts on its victims.

[daecaerys]

❛ i don't want to be afraid. ❜ mother confessed as head fell against her child's. drogon's breath helped her own calm down as around them, her city fell. all dany could think of was the horrifying image of ser barristan leading men to their death. the unsullied's raged screams rising loud ───── the innocent dying as the outcome of her mistakes. of her weakness. i'm a dragon, yet i lead them all like a sheep. and so her body now was armored, an improv of leather, fur and boots. braided silver strands. khaleesi returning to her mount, the dothraki ready to strike. ❛ ivestragī's zālagon lī qilōni jaelagon naejot belmon issa. ❜

let's burn those who threat to chain my people. drogon would understand her. he'd not fail her. yet, no matter how much she desired otherwise, she feared. daenerys stormborn mounted, no saddle, pain and uncomfort being welcomed to remind her ; it is not your silver you ride to war.

❛ @perzyr, help me not be afraid. ❜ fly, show me where the sound comes from.

[adreamofspring-archive]

By midday Daenerys was feeling the weight of the crown upon her head, and the hardness of the bench beneath her. With so many still waiting on her pleasure, she did not stop to eat. Instead she dispatched Jhiqui to the kitchens for a platter of flatbread, olives, figs, and cheese. She nibbled whilst she listened, and sipped from a cup of watered wine. The figs were fine, the olives even finer, but the wine left a tart metallic aftertaste in her mouth. The small pale yellow grapes native to these regions produced a notably inferior vintage. We shall have no trade in wine. Besides, the Great Masters had burned the best arbors along with the olive trees.

In the afternoon a sculptor came, proposing to replace the head of the great bronze harpy in the Plaza of Purification with one cast in Dany’s image. She denied him with as much courtesy as she could muster. A pike of unprecedented size had been caught in the Skahazadhan, and the fisherman wished to give it to the queen. She admired the fish extravagantly, rewarded the fisherman with a purse of silver, and sent the pike to her kitchens. A coppersmith had fashioned her a suit of burnished rings to wear to war. She accepted it with fulsome thanks; it was lovely to behold, and all that burnished copper would flash prettily in the sun, though if actual battle threatened, she would sooner be clad in steel. Even a young girl who knew nothing of the ways of war knew that.

The slippers the Butcher King had sent her had grown too uncomfortable. Dany kicked them off and sat with one foot tucked beneath her and the other swinging back and forth. It was not a very regal pose, but she was tired of being regal. The crown had given her a headache, and her buttocks had gone to sleep. “Ser Barristan,” she called, “I know what quality a king needs most.”

“Courage, Your Grace?”

“Cheeks like iron,” she teased. “All I do is sit.”

“Your Grace takes too much on herself. You should allow your councillors to shoulder more of your burdens.”

“I have too many councillors and too few cushions.” Dany turned to Reznak. “How many more?”

“Three-and-twenty, if it please Your Magnificence. With as many claims.” The seneschal consulted some papers. “One calf and three goats. The rest will be sheep or lambs, no doubt.”

“Three-and-twenty.” Dany sighed. “My dragons have developed a prodigious taste for mutton since we began to pay the shepherds for their kills. Have these claims been proven?”

“Some men have brought burnt bones.”

“Men make fires. Men cook mutton. Burnt bones prove nothing. Brown Ben says there are red wolves in the hills outside the city, and jackals and wild dogs. Must we pay good silver for every lamb that goes astray between Yunkai and the Skahazadhan?”

“No, Magnificence.” Reznak bowed. “Shall I send these rascals away, or will you want them scourged?” Daenerys shifted on the bench.

“No man should ever fear to come to me.” Some claims were false, she did not doubt, but more were genuine. Her dragons had grown too large to be content with rats and cats and dogs. The more they eat, the larger they will grow, Ser Barristan had warned her, and the larger they grow, the more they’ll eat. Drogon especially ranged far afield and could easily devour a sheep a day. “Pay them for the value of their animals,” she told Reznak, “but henceforth claimants must present themselves at the Temple of the Graces and swear a holy oath before the gods of Ghis.”

“It shall be done.” Reznak turned to the petitioners. “Her Magnificence the Queen has consented to compensate each of you for the animals you have lost,” he told them in the Ghiscari tongue. “Present yourselves to my factors on the morrow, and you shall be paid in coin or kind, as you prefer.”

The pronouncement was received in sullen silence. You would think they might be happier, Dany thought. They have what they came for. Is there no way to please these people?

One man lingered behind as the rest were filing out—a squat man with a windburnt face, shabbily dressed. His hair was a cap of coarse red-black wire cropped about his ears, and in one hand he held a sad cloth sack. He stood with his head down, gazing at the marble floor as if he had quite forgotten where he was. And what does this one want? Dany wondered.

“All kneel for Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Khaleesi of Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Shackles, and Mother of Dragons,” cried Missandei in her high, sweet voice.

As Dany stood, her tokar began to slip. She caught it and tugged it back in place. “You with the sack,” she called, “did you wish to speak with us? You may approach.” When he raised his head, his eyes were red and raw as open sores. Dany glimpsed Ser Barristan sliding closer, a white shadow at her side. The man approached in a stumbling shuffle, one step and then another, clutching his sack. Is he drunk, or ill? she wondered. There was dirt beneath his cracked yellow fingernails.

“What is it?” Dany asked. “Do you have some grievance to lay before us, some petition? What would you have of us?” His tongue flicked nervously over chapped, cracked lips.

“I … I brought …”

“Bones?” she said, impatiently. “Burnt bones?” He lifted the sack, and spilled its contents on the marble.

Bones they were, broken bones and blackened. The longer ones had been cracked open for their marrow.

“It were the black one,” the man said, in a Ghiscari growl, “the winged shadow. He come down from the sky and … and …”

No. Dany shivered. No, no, oh no.

“Are you deaf, fool?” Reznak mo Reznak demanded of the man. “Did you not hear my pronouncement? See my factors on the morrow, and you shall be paid for your sheep.”

“Reznak,” Ser Barristan said quietly, “hold your tongue and open your eyes. Those are no sheep bones.”

No, Dany thought, those are the bones of a child.

[iheartbookbran]

Ok so actually my biggest problem with the whole “Daenerys will burn KL” theory—not even the Mad Queen Dany theory, which is of course very sexist for obvious reasons, but just like, the idea that Dany will ~accidentally~ ignite the wildfire in the city, burning it all to the ground. That, at first, doesn’t sound that bad, but the longer I think about it the more I hate it because tbh it doesn’t do anything for her character? And also… that fate for her is just down right cruel.

Like, the most frequent argument I see on why this would be at all satisfactory for Dany’s arc is basically that it would be a sort of lesson for her about the dangers of unchecked power and the real threat the Dragons can pose on humans and that she shouldn’t use them to fight against other people. And that’s all well and good, excellent message… except that’s not something Dany’s ever really needed to learn? Not anymore that her fellow rulers, which I will touch on more detail later, but in general Dany has seen what the abuse of power can do. Starting with her conflicting feelings regarding Viserys and how she recognizes that even though he was her brother and she loved him, he also abused his power over her as her older brother, her only family and her king; she feels guilt about the atrocities Drogo committed to the lhazarene and tries to help them; she feels so much guilt about not handling things correctly in Astapor that she decides to throw away all her plans to go to Westeros and instead stays in Meereen.

And about not knowing the true danger that her dragons can pose? I mean, this is the same girl that literally agonizes across several of her ADWD chapters because Drogon killed a child, and then takes the extreme measure of caging Rhaegal and Viserion to prevent that from ever happening again. I think she’s at least a little bit aware that the dragons can be dangerous, thank you very much.

Ok so this got long...

Anyways, the only time Dany legit uses Drogon to harm someone and not just as bluff was at the house of the Undying, where she was being attacked, and in Astapor… and like, lmao, that asshole Kraznys mo Nakloz and the rest of his slaver buddies deserved it. Don’t at me. Also, Dany’s hardly the only one with a big magical and deadly beast at her disposal, why didn’t Robb had to go through some horrifying traumatic incident to learn he shouldn’t use Grey Wind in battle to tear his enemies’ throats. Bran will be learning about the dangers of abusing power, but that’s linked to his magic powers and an actual reprehensible thing he’s doing, not the use of his glorified prehistoric dog to kill, which he’s done, just like Robb. By all means let the narrative hold Dany accountable for her mistakes… but her actual mistakes and not shit she has no control over, because she doesn’t have much control over Drogon or the other dragons even though she’s trying to, and that’s very obvious in her last ADWD chapter where she’s delirious and Drogon could kill her at any moment, and she knows that.

The other big argument people make for Dany burning KL (even if it’s by accident!) is that it will teach her about the price of war, that someone as young as her shouldn’t be leading armies and conquering kingdoms, and that fighting for the Iron Throne is not a worthy cause, and I feel like that misses the actual point of her story by a mile. First of all because a) Dany is hardly the only teenage ruler in the story and b) this is a fantasy medieval story, a lot of the characters shouldn’t be doing the things they do, aaaand yet. Also speaking of other teenage rulers with far more power that they should have—Robb and Jon, being the biggest examples.

Granted, Robb and Jon aren’t exactly successful during their time as rulers, they’re literally betrayed and killed by their own men (even if Jon will technically come back for round 2 of bullshit he’s too tired for). But the moral of their stories is not that they lost because theirs was an unworthy cause and they were stupid kids wholly unprepared for their roles. And I actually partially agree! They are just kids, including Dany, and they shouldn’t be responsible for looking after so many others and going to battle, but their cause is still just and worthy, even with all the mistakes they make along the way. Robb didn’t loose because he was wrong in demanding justice for his family or trying to protect the riverlands from the Lannisters and their minions, he lost because Tywin Lannister was a giant coward who couldn’t take him out in a fair fight.

Likewise, it isn’t wrong of Jon to try to incorporate refugees from beyond the Wall into Westeros. He’s not too stupid and honorable to do politics like his father (how I hate when people insult Jon and Ned like that), and while he did some very obvious mistakes that inevitably ended in a coup and in him dying, this is more connected to his inability to let go of his ties with his family (mainly Arya or who he believes to be her), and in isolating himself from his friends and the people he could actually trust.

I’ve always thought that Dany and Jon share a parallel narrative within the story, so while Jon is struggling with that Dany is faced with similar problems. She cages her dragons, that to her represent the only family she has left, and she tries to compromise with the slavers, marry a man she doesn’t love, pretend she’s ok with reopening the fighting pit. While she tries her best to rule wisely in Meereen, it all comes at the cost of betraying herself and her beliefs, so it’s no surprise when it all crashes around her and she’s betrayed and nearly killed. Ironically, it is Drogon who comes to rescue her.

If they are monsters, so am I.—Daenerys II, ADWD.

This is hands down one of my favorite Dany quotes from the whole series, and I hate that it’s been given such a negative connotation in the fandom, when for me it represents Dany’s humanity and compassion at the fullest.

GRRM has a knack for humanizing the ‘monsters’ of his story, for showing the good in the outcasts and the ugly and the scary. He embraces their ‘otherness’ and makes them the heroes of his stories; Arya, Bran, Brienne, Dany, Tyrion, Jon, Theon and many others are all compared to monsters or beasts at one point or another in the books.

Dany sees herself in her dragons, literal monsters in every sense of the word. Later on she faces Drogon inside the pit, and in that moment you could say that she accepts that ‘monstrous’ part of her, and in doing so she’s saved from her fate of dying at the hands of the men who would crucify innocent children and gleefully profit off of the suffering of their fellow human beings while watching them fight each other to the death for their own amusement. Now tell me who’s the real monster in this situation.

But shortly before that happens, Dany is able to see the humanity in Tyrion, an outcast who has been branded as monstrous and unlovable due to his disability all his life, a man who has come to believe in his abusers’ rhetoric about him so strongly that he’s started to act cruel and detached. She saves his life. She sees value in his life when few others would, because she cares.

I’ve always find it funny that the “dragons plant no trees” is—another—example fans use to argue in favor of Dany’s descent into Darkness™ because the actual scene goes like this:

You are a queen, her bear said. In Westeros.

"It is such a long way," she complained. "I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl."

No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words.—Daenerys X, ADWD.

Now am I the only one who finds it at least a bit relevant that it’s freaking Jorah Mormont aka Jorah the Enslaver whom Dany’s subconscious, at her literal lowest moment, utilizes to represent this particular thought, which btw I’ve always interpreted as Dany’s own self-loathing manifesting in her, and this is something she’s actually always struggled with—the idea that she’s not enough and she’s failing. Because above all things, even Westeros or the Iron Throne, what Dany wants is peace, she wants to plant trees.

When Dany made her descent, Reznak and Skahaz dropped to their knees. "Your Worship shines so brightly, you will blind every man who dares to look upon you," said Reznak. […] This match will save our city, you will see."

"So we pray. I want to plant my olive trees and see them fruit." Does it matter that Hizdahr's kisses do not please me? Peace will please me. Am I a queen or just a woman?—Daenerys VII, ADWD.

But of course the world doesn’t work like that, and so long as there’s Jorahs and Tywins and Eurons out there, men who would take the freedom of humans and submit them to their will, Dany can’t have the luxury of peace, just like Jon can’t have the luxury of belonging and family so long as there’s people still beyond the Wall who need his protection.

And I think that’s fine. It’s fine that Dany failed, it will help her develop as a character and realize that there’s no room to compromise with slavers, the metaphorical monsters of the story who do far more harm than the other more literal ‘monsters’ of the story. So that when she has to face down Euron Greyjoy—who btw, there’s a high chance he will end up stealing one of Dany’s dragons via Victarion using Dragonbinder… y’know, as in enslaving one of her children and using said dragon to inflict god knows what horrors, yet not many people ever consider this for some reason?—she will know. When she has to face down the Others, the magical ice fairies with no regard for human life, she will know.

That’s why I believe that it would make absolutely no sense for Dany to have to go through such a tragic and traumatic experience like burning a whole city even by pure accident, over something that’s either never been a problem with her character or she’s well into her way of learning anyways, so it would just feel repetitive. As I have pointed out, she’s already reached one of the lowest moments of her arc. Not saying there will be no other blows for her, and probably the destruction of KL will be one of them, and knowing Dany she will feel responsibility over it no matter what, but that doesn’t mean she has to be the culprit, intentional or otherwise.

[magalidragon]

it must be puppy love | part 2 | teaser

Distracted by work and fandom wank yesterday (don’t slide into my DMs with your BS. 😑) so I didn’t work on this how I wanted. As apologies for not getting it up today like I wanted I will offer a teaser and cross fingers I can get it done by Friday. Enjoy!

That was about the extent of it, he thought, reflecting on that particular morning. It was only a few days ago. He was so fucking confused. He brooded about it the entire way to the vet clinic, parking behind her car, and going up and inside. One of the vet techs-- every one of them wore red scrubs, so weird-- led him to the exam room, where Drogon was resting on the floor, poking at the crate where the pups wiggled around, squealing in displeasure that they’'d been taken from their mother.

Ghost rushed immediately to his children, Jon nodding to Dany, who was scrolling on her phone. "Hey," he greeted, unclipping Ghost's lead.

She smiled briefly; she had a very nice smile, he'd been remiss to tell her. "Hey. Oh look at that, Ghost you've got a new accessory."

"Passed his trials this morning."

"Amazing," she murmured, furrowing her brow as Ghost began digging at a divot in the tile. She darted a glance to him, silently questioning. He shrugged; he could pass the K-9 trials, didn't mean he had to be fully smart elsewhere. She smiled a little wider, scratching Ghost's ears. "Good boy. Check on your babies."

Drogon wagged her tail, looking up when he approached her. He knelt to her level, ruffling her ears and pressing a kiss to her nose. She was relatively cute, when you studied her long enough. He still gave Dany shit for having an ugly dog though. "How're you girl? Hmm? Pups keeping you up?" He turned to hte crate, reaching in and collecting the one closest, the little girl, whose fur had begun growing in and was now about the same snowy white as her father. She nuzzled into his chest, squeaking, litlte paws scrabbling at him.

He rubbed between her ears, lifting his gaze to meet Dany, who was still attending to Ghost. He cleared his throat, shrugging, pretending like he hadn't already been thinking about this. "You know...they're getting bigger and stuff and...we need to think about...are we gonna' keep them or...sell..."

Even he didn't feel good about the last word. He was relieved when Dany jerked her head up, horrified. "Sell them? Fuck no! You might have a heart of ice, but I actually care, these are Drogon's babies and I will not...”

"Whoa, chill out Dragon Queen." He made a 'time out' motion with his hands, not at all expecting that to stop her, which it did not. He sighed, while Dany ranted another moment about how he was just "dumping" the children because he couldn't be bothered, and finally he chose drastic action.

He swooped in and kissed her.

It had the desired effect. She stopped talking, her words catching in the back of her throat, mouth parted in surprise. He took the opportunity to lightly cup the back of her head, at an awkward angle as she was looking up from her seated position and he was bending over, the dogs and crate between them, and a wiggling pup against his chest. He was surprised himself, mostly by how gentle it was. He didn't intend it, it just...happened.

She reached up, her hand curling around his forearm, fingers digging into the thick fatigues material, and she returned the kiss, lips soft under his. He broke away first, eyes wide on hers, and saw her expression likely mirrored his, violet irises wide around her dilated pupil, her pink lips swollen, open slightly. She darted her tongue to wet them, her hand still around his arm. He dropped his from her head, lightly stroking over one of her braids across her shoulder and drifted away.

The room was quiet; the pups squealed and Drogon huffed a sigh, moving into a more comfortable position. Ghost panted, whipping his head between them both. He swallowed hard, murmuring. "No one's selling the puppies."

It threw her off, her throat bobbing, a muscle in her jaw ticking when she swallowed. "Alright," she rasped. She dropped her hand from his arm, like she'd been burned, and fisted her fingers against her thighs. Coughing, she composed herself, and he took the moment to do the same, also thrown off, not just by his initial reaction to bloody fucking kiss her, but the way hed done so. And even the way she reacted.

Like what the fuck Snow? They had no label on whatever this was, didn't want to even think about it, and he was not interested. He'd been married for five miserable bloody awful years, the only thing he'd come to realize out of that situation was that he never wanted to feel like that again and that meant no bloody relationships.

Ghost, the stupid mutt, did not seem to understand that they were in this together, and had gone and started something with the dog next door, and now it seemed he was in the same situation. Even if Drogon seemed a bit more reluctant, despite Ghost's best efforts. He was now sitting right beside her, his big fluffy butt sitting on her back legs, but Drogon didn't mind.

Dany's eye twitched, almost imperceptible. She cleared her throat and reached into her tote bag, removing a very "lawyerly" black leather portfolio. She flicked it open and took out a red pen with dragons engraved in it, uncapped it with her teeth, and began to scrawl atop a yellow legal pad. He scowled. "You suing me?"

"No," she snapped. She set the pen cap down and primly rested the notepad on her knee, legs crossed. She spoke as she wrote. "In the matter of Ghost Snow and Drogon Targaryen....custody arrangements for...." She glanced at the pups, hte one still in his arms and the other who had wiggled out of the crate and straight to Drogon, suckling eagerly. She squinted. "Well they need names, but for now we will refer to them as Child A and Child B."

He drolled, "How sentimental." What on earth was she doing? He said nothing, his heart skipping behind his ribs.

Dany continued, writing quickly. "Custody agreement shall commence upon the date of first weaning, after which Child A and Child B are no longer fully dependent on mother, Drogon Targaryen, for sustenance."

"You are so clinical, my gods."

"I am being thorough," she said, but there was no heat behind it. She lifted her eyebrows, smirking at him. "Do you want them every other day or week or what?"

He looked at Ghost, who cocked his head, tongue out at the side of his open mouth. "I think Ghost would like to see his children as much as physically possible." He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking, an idea forming. He nodded to her legal pad. "Keep working on that, but I have an idea."

"Dangerous."

[a-secret-bolton-vampire]

Daenerys Stormborn, Part 1: From Pentos, to Vaes Dothrak, from Qarth, to Slaver's Bay

I've decided since this tiny post; I'll write about Dany. But there's so much I can talk about that I will most likely write between other essays (unless I feel otherwise). Daenerys Targaryen is my favourite character in ASOIAF. She's an incredibly complex character, and one whose fate interests me quite a lot. Of all the endings in the show, Dany's made me the saddest and angriest. Not only did they rush and make her turn a "twist" that happened on a dime, but it fed into the Mad Queen theories that I really despised.

Can't a powerful women with dragons not go mad with power and become prone to hysteria? Also, can said woman not be murdered by her lover/nephew as a way to give said lover more pain instead of having any meaningful end to her arc? And can said woman not have been "an insane tyrant the whole time"? I may one day vent on season 8, but I won't. Instead, I want to attempt to make sense of the ending we saw in the show, and how it applies to the books. Bit by bit, I will build up to Dany's ultimate role in the series. But first, we need to set the groundwork for it.

(CW: Rape)

The Last Dragon

The first we see of Daenerys, she is a very shy girl who was under the thumb of her physically and psychologically abusive brother Viserys. With no agency, she was married off as essentially a marital slave to be raped by Khal Drogo. However, after some meaningful dragon dreams, Dany began to try and take advantage of her surroundings to give herself power. Of course, Viserys didn't like this very much. Dany was everything Viserys wasn't.

Whereas Viserys was incredibly narcissistic and had no real feelings for anyone other than himself, Daenerys shows empathy to those lower than her. While Viserys was prone to violent outbursts of intense rage and did not think things through very well, Dany is more measured, perceptive, and intelligent (not to say she's infallible, nobody in this world is infallible). As Daenerys became more and more loved by Drogo and the Dothraki, Viserys found himself jealous that she was better received than him, the lawful heir to the Targaryen dynasty.

This culminated in Viserys threatening to cut Rhaego out from her, and Drogo pouring molten gold onto his face to kill him. Good riddance, fuck Viserys. Anyways, she then tries to convince Drogo to cross the narrow sea to invade Westeros, but he stubbornly refuses until an assassin hired by Robert attempts to poison her and is caught, at which point he vows to do so. In her first real experience with war, when the khalasar sacks a Lhazareen village, Dany is disturbed to see all the innocent men being massacred and the women being gang raped, so she decides to take the women under her protection, which earns her resentment from some of Drogo's bloodriders.

I don't think Dany was quite aware of what war and conquest would look like until the village, and she was horrified by what she saw. During the sack, Drogo was wounded slaying Khal Ogo, and with Dany's urging, one of the women she took under her protection, Mirri Maz Duur, agreed to heal his wound. Of course, being a maegi, she is hated and not trusted by the Dothraki. Regardless, Mirri heals Drogo's wounds and they continue on until Drogo collapses from a fever, having removed the poultice of his wound.

From there, Dany's hold on the khalasar is weakening. Her power is really tied to Drogo's, as Dothraki society is extremely misogynistic and views women as lesser beings. Desperate to save him, she turns to Mirri for any magic she could use to heal him. This decision is what finally breaks the khalasar, several of the bloodriders try to kill her, and in that time, another one of the women Dany rescued, Eroeh, was gang raped and murdered by Jhaqo and Pono. The result is Daenerys being left with what can't be more than 100 people out of the original 100,000 or so people in the khalasar.

However, Dany suffers another crushing loss; her child Rhaego. While Mirri says that death may pay for life, and she sacrifices Drogo's horse, the real price was Dany's unborn child. She did so because Rhaego was to be the stallion who mounts the world, a prophesied leader of all Dothraki who would become a great conqueror. In addition, Drogo is "healed", but permanently left in a catatonic state. When Dany asks Mirri when he will be back to normal, Mirri says;

"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east," said Mirri Maz Duur. "When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before."

Dany seems to take this to mean "never", and is heartbroken, so she mercy kills him by smothering him with a pillow.

Throughout the first book, Dany has a series of dreams and visions involving dragons, the most telling of which was her "wake the dragon" fever dream she had during Mirri's ritual. As a result, and to get vengeance for her husband and child, Dany decides to tie Mirri on a stake to Drogo's funeral pyre, as well as placing the dragon eggs with Drogo. Then, when it is lit, and Mirri burns alive, Dany walks into the flames. Everyone thinks she is mad, that she is out of her mind, but Dany seems to think this is all part of her destiny.

And sure enough, when the fire burns out, she is unburnt (save for her hair), and she has three newly hatched dragons. The "wake the dragon" dream also features, near the end, her opening the red door of the house she stayed in as a young child in Braavos, and finding herself under the visor of Rhaegar's helmet, as Jorah repeats "the last dragon". Dany's journey in the first book is about taking control of herself and her family's legacy.

Early on, she realizes that Viserys will never conquer the Seven Kingdoms, and although Viserys originally had Dany marry Drogo to get an army of his own, the khalasar eventually became Dany's army. And when Viserys died, Dany decided it was her responsibility to do what he could not; take back the Iron Throne for her family. And then, at her absolute lowest, when she has lost practically the entire khalasar, her husband, her child, she gains three dragons.

Viserys believed that his name made him a Targaryen, that being King meant he was a true Targaryen. His anger was a tool to assert his dominance as a Targaryen, to get others to bend to his will. He has immense pride for his family, which turned into unchecked narcissism. But for all his talk, Viserys was no true Targaryen, and no true dragon. Dany even thinks this just after he dies.

He was no dragon, Dany thought, curiously calm. Fire cannot kill a dragon.

Dany has brought dragons back to the world, a symbol of the power Targaryens had, back to life. She was not killed by the fire of Drogo's pyre (of course, she isn't fireproof, this was a one time weird occurrence). She is a true dragon, a true Targaryen, who is truly following in the footsteps of her family.

The Lost Dragon

During the Drogo pyre fire (hah), a red comet appeared in the sky. Believing that she has a bigger purpose, and that the comet was sent for her, she and her khalasar follow it, into the Red Waste. Despite thinking this is a sign for her future, she is mostly lost and unsure what to do. With enemies all around, the Red Waste is the only way to go. They find the abandoned city of what she calls Vaes Tolorro, and she sends out her bloodriders to look for what is around.

Eventually, Jhogo returns with three representatives of Qarth; Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Pyat Pree, and Quaithe. They bring her back to Qarth, where she is showered with gifts and given part of Xaro's own palace to stay at. She begs an audience with the Pureborn, the descendants of the kings and queens of Qarth, but they reject her plea for aid in conquering Westeros. Xaro meanwhile suggests marriage, but only as a means to steal her dragons for himself. Quaithe gives very cryptic and vague as hell prophecies to Dany.

With no one left to turn to for aid, Dany decides to seek answers from the warlocks at the House of the Undying, drinking shade of the evening and having numerous visions. When she finally finds the Undying, they seem to be trying to steal her life force, only for Drogon to set them alight. After that, with no way to leave Qarth and refusal to be sent off with any ships, Dany is stuck, and is the subject of an assassination attempt by the Sorrowful Men, sent by Pyat Pree, only for it to be thwarted thanks to Barristan.

On surface level, Dany's ACOK arc is less eventful and straightforward than AGOT; she remains in roughly a single location the entire time, with only two major events occurring (the Undying visions & the attempted assassination). However, after such a journey in AGOT, it makes sense for her story to slow down a bit before speeding back up in ASOS. After finally embracing the responsibility of carrying the Targaryen legacy her brother failed to live to, Dany now has to deal with the fact of how important she is and what her next moves are.

Despite Qarth being so beautiful and splendid, with seemingly everyone ready to provide aid for her quest to conquer Westeros, it is all an illusion. They see someone who is now one of the most powerful people in the world, someone they can use to manipulate for their own ends and gain power for themselves. Quaithe tells Dany as much:

Last of the three seekers to depart was Quaithe the shadowbinder. From her Dany received only a warning. "Beware," the woman in the red lacquer mask said. "Of whom?" "Of all. They shall come day and night to see the wonder that has been born again into the world, and when they see they shall lust. For dragons are fire made flesh, and fire is power."

Dany thinks to herself that there must've been a reason the comet led her to Qarth, as part of her belief that she is heavily tied to destiny.

"The comet led me to Qarth for a reason. I had hoped to find my army here, but it seems that will not be. What else remains, I ask myself?"

So what was the reason she was in Qarth? In my opinion, it was partly to teach her a lesson in not trusting people, but mostly knowledge. The House of the Undying is a massive moment in the series, as it lays out many future events of the series before us (and her!) that are very cryptic and hard to uncover. I will one day examine the full scope of the visions of the Undying, but I want to focus on the narrative reason for this.

Daenerys has a strong sense of destiny. The hatching of the dragons, the red comet, the visions, they all have to mean something, lead toward this grand destiny of hers. I think that a lot (but not all) of the visions Dany experiences are relevant to her future, and lay out a lot of what she will experience/do in the last two books. The prophecies she learns (especially concerning being the "slayer of lies", "three treasons", "three fires", and "three mounts") stay with her into ADWD, where Quaithe once again appears and asks she remember the Undying.

Prophecies are also very common in Greek tragedies, and also appears in Macbeth, a tragedy written by Shakespeare, wherein Macbeth seeks out the knowledge of the witches again out of fear that he will lose his position as king. Daenerys is aware that there will be three treasons committed against her, as well as three fires she will light, and three mounts she will ride, and that there are three heads of the dragon. She constantly considers in ADWD whether these prophecies are coming true, that she finds confusing and suspicious, frustrated even.

In short, the Undying is not just a window into the future, but more of an exploration of the effect prophecy has on a young person like Daenerys who so strongly believes in destiny. She also learns in a vision of Rhaegar about something called "the song of ice and fire", which seems to be extremely significant, and that she will be at the centre of the climactic events of the series.

In the end, it is not herself or the Qartheen who get her out of Qarth, but a disguised Barristan Selmy, sent with three ships by Illyrio to bring her back to Pentos. Dissatisfied with her time in Qarth, she decides to return to Pentos with Barristan... but Pentos is not where she ends up, not even close.

The New Dragon

After leaving Qarth and the return west, Jorah, mistrustful of Illyrio, instead convinces Dany to turn the ships to Astapor and buy Unsullied slave soldiers to help in her conquest of Westeros. Stopping by Astapor, she finds a hellish place, red bricks, tortured slaves, and narcissistic slave masters who have no regard or empathy for anyone other than themselves. Disgusted by what she has seen, Dany formulates a plan entirely in her own head; she decides to buy all the Unsullied by giving Drogon over to Kraznys.

Only she didn't. She only did that to gain control of the Unsullied, before burning the masters and freeing all the slaves. As she tells Xaro later in ADWD, despite being surrounded by slaves with the Dothraki and in Qarth, she did not see how horrible it could be until she got to Astapor and saw how the slaves were tortured. She had the power to try to end it, and decided to take it upon her hands. So instead of heading to Westeros, she decides to liberate Yunkai and Meereen as well.

It's easy to be frustrated at Dany's Essos arc, especially since it doesn't really interact with the Westerosi plot where the majority of the action is taking place, but I think it's important that Dany repeatedly is given an option to go to Westeros, but instead stays in Essos. Progressions in real life are rarely linear, and I applaud GRRM for being able to have clear character arcs while not having the progression be entirely linear and staying true to life.

After Astapor, Yunkai fears what will happen to them as she approaches and hires two sellsword companies for aid. Instead, Dany purposefully lies to the Yunkish envoy and the sellswords, and gives the later wine to get drunk on (and an offer to join her) while she attacks at night. Daario, a lieutenant of the Stormcrows, is won over by Daenerys, kills his fellow captains, and defects to her side. Yunkai is defeated, and the slaves are let go. However, unlike Astapor, Dany does not put an end to the Wise Masters. For this, she is hailed by the freedmen as "mhysa!" or "mother". The Second Sons also join Daenerys after the battle.

Then they move on to Meereen, who has decided to crucify a little slave girl for each mile as a marker from Yunkai to Meereen. When she arrives, the Meereenese champion is easily defeated, and Mero, the former captain of the Second Sons, attempts to kill Dany in her camp, but is promptly killed by Arstan Whitebeard, who is then revealed to be Barristan, who reveals Jorah has been spying on Daenerys for King Robert.

Daenerys takes Meereen and crucifies the 162 Great Masters as retribution for the 162 slave girls crucified. When Barristan explains why he did not tell her who he was, she accepts and forgives him, but she finds she cannot forgive Jorah and banishes him. And of course, instead of leaving for Westeros, she decides to stay in Meereen, after learning that Astapor has been left in the hands of a butcher king named Cleon, overthrowing a council she had instilled when she left, and proposing war against Yunkai, which she just liberated.

Worried about what the effects would be if she simply left Meereen for Westeros, she decides to stay in Meereen and rule as its queen. I decided to call this section "the new dragon" because of Daenerys dismantling an institution her own ancestors helped found. The Ghiscari of Old Ghis had slavery of their own, which they ended up teaching to their new conquerors, the Valyrians. Then, after the Doom, slavery continued again, only this time it was now being practiced by the Free Cities, who are in constant trading with the masters of Slaver's Bay.

As she notes, they keep to the Ghiscari gods, and their symbol is of the harpy, a symbol of Old Ghis, but they no longer speak Ghiscari, instead speaking High Valyrian. Slavery was something the dragonlords of Old Valyria engaged in routinely, and that legacy is still all over Essos. In a way, she is undoing the sins of her ancestors past, and trying to make the world a better place and fighting injustice by using her dragons.

In contrast to ACOK, where she seems as yet undecided on what exactly her destiny is, she seems to be taking control of it in ASOS, becoming Mhysa, the Breaker of Chains, a saviour to those who have been enslaved. It is at this point that she starts to gain a serious following, one that I only assume will continue to grow in Essos. Because of her actions in fighting against slavery, she not only becomes a real saviour to the freedmen, but she also becomes a messianic figure to the followers of R'hllor, as a reincarnation of Azor Ahai.

This is where Dany goes from being simply the last Targaryen, the last dragon, and into a legendary, almost mythic, god-like figure. In my future essays, I will expand upon this aspect of her, since it is going to be really important moving forward, but the start of that is here in ASOS. And thus, this will be where I am concluding part 1. AGOT had Daenerys starting low, but eventually learning to rise up and realize she has to be the one to carry on the Targaryen legacy, after knowing Viserys would never live up to it.

ACOK had Dany questioning her destiny, as well as figuring out what her next step is after the miraculous birth of her dragons. And ASOS concludes her act 1 arc, by having her take control of her destiny and becoming a truly legendary figure who is changing the world. In part 2, I will be discussing in depth the thematic and personal struggles Daenerys faces as she is ruling Meereen in ADWD, and what those struggles and their resolution means for her future.

[rainhadaenerys]

I haven’t seen much talk about this, but the episode The Bells was actually hilarious. I didn’t watch it when it first came out, because I was still way too upset about what they were doing to Dany, but I later decided to watch and I couldn’t stop laughing the entire episode. Because they try so hard. All the time, the episode just hammers to you “look, look how Dany is evil”, “look, she’s burning a little kid”. It’s all so heavy-handed that it’s actually pathetic, which is why I coudn’t stop laughing. The episode tries so hard to be serious and meaningful, they even try to show things like the two sides of war, with the Lannister soldiers trying to help people while Dany’s army attacks. But it ends up just being comedic, because we know how none of that makes any sense to Dany’s character. What made it so funny to me is that you can clearly see how self-congratulatory the directors and writers were being, you can see how they thought they created a “serious” and “complex” and “meaningful” story, but we could all see through it and see how pathetic and stupid it all was. So as I was watching Dany burning little kids, Tyrion, Jon and Arya making horrified faces to show us “the horrors of war” and “the rise of a tyrant”, I was just laughing my ass off, because I couldn’t take any of that seriously.

Actually, now that I think about it, The Iron Throne was equally hilarious. When Jon screams to Dany “Have you seen it? LITTLE CHILDREN BURNED!”, I just lost it. Because yeah, Dany had never seen little children being harmed in war before, she totally never saw crucified children or locked her dragons because Drogon killed one child. Totally never happened. Oh, and the “first she came for the slavers” speech is super profound and not ridiculous at all. And the council to make a new king was totally serious and realistic and not funny at all.

It’s just... the pretentiousness of both episodes while being a complete failure... it’s really funny.

[aboveallarescuer]

Dany and Hizdahr’s relationship

This is a list of all the passages from the books featuring key moments in Dany and Hizdahr’s relationship. Unlike with the other lists, I didn't go after horrible opinions for this one because Hizdahr played a relatively minor role in the show and, therefore, didn't help to undermine Dany as much as show!Jorah did (though he still did, to a lesser extent).

A Dance with Dragons

ADWD Daenerys X

A girl might spend her life at play, but she was a woman grown, a queen, a wife, a mother to thousands. Her children had need of her. Drogon had bent before the whip, and so must she. She had to don her crown again and return to her ebon bench and the arms of her noble husband.

Hizdahr, of the tepid kisses.

~

As the world darkened, Dany settled in and closed her eyes, but sleep refused to come. The night was cold, the ground hard, her belly empty. She found herself thinking of Meereen, of Daario, her love, and Hizdahr, her husband, of Irri and Jhiqui and sweet Missandei, Ser Barristan and Reznak and Skahaz Shavepate. Do they fear me dead? I flew off on a dragon’s back. Will they think he ate me? She wondered if Hizdahr was still king. His crown had come from her, could he hold it in her absence? He wanted Drogon dead. I heard him. “Kill it,” he screamed, “kill the beast,” and the look upon his face was lustful. And Strong Belwas had been on his knees, heaving and shuddering. Poison. It had to be poison. The honeyed locusts. Hizdahr urged them on me, but Belwas ate them all. She had made Hizdahr her king, taken him into her bed, opened the fighting pits for him, he had no reason to want her dead. Yet who else could it have been? Reznak, her perfumed seneschal? The Yunkai’i? The Sons of the Harpy?

~

Dany, starved, slid off his back and ate with him, ripping chunks of smoking meat from the dead horse with bare, burned hands. In Meereen I was a queen in silk, nibbling on stuffed dates and honeyed lamb, she remembered. What would my noble husband think if he could see me now? Hizdahr would be horrified, no doubt. But Daario ...

Daario would laugh, carve off a hunk of horsemeat with his arakh, and squat down to eat beside her.

 ADWD Daenerys IX

“Those bearers were slaves before I came. I made them free. Yet that palanquin is no lighter.”

“True,” said Hizdahr, “but those men are paid to bear its weight now. Before you came, that man who fell would have an overseer standing over him, stripping the skin off his back with a whip. Instead he is being given aid.”

It was true. A Brazen Beast in a boar mask had offered the litter bearer a skin of water. “I suppose I must be thankful for small victories,” the queen said.

“One step, then the next, and soon we shall be running. Together we shall make a new Meereen.” The street ahead had finally cleared. “Shall we continue on?”

What could she do but nod? One step, then the next, but where is it I’m going?

~

Hizdahr had stocked their box with flagons of chilled wine and sweetwater, with figs, dates, melons, and pomegranates, with pecans and peppers and a big bowl of honeyed locusts. Strong Belwas bellowed, “Locusts!” as he seized the bowl and began to crunch them by the handful.

“Those are very tasty,” advised Hizdahr. “You ought to try a few yourself, my love. They are rolled in spice before the honey, so they are sweet and hot at once.”

“That explains the way Belwas is sweating,” Dany said. “I believe I will content myself with figs and dates.”

~

“Gentle queen. You do not want to disappoint your people.”

“You swore to me that the fighters would be grown men who had freely consented to risk their lives for gold and honor. These dwarfs did not consent to battle lions with wooden swords. You will stop it. Now.”

The king’s mouth tightened. For a heartbeat Dany thought she saw a flash of anger in those placid eyes. “As you command.”

~

“Ser Barristan, will you see me safely back to my garden?”

Hizdahr looked confused. “There is more to come. A folly, six old women, and three more matches. Belaquo and Goghor!”

~

“Magnificence, the people of Meereen have come to celebrate our union. You heard them cheering you. Do not cast away their love.”

“It was my floppy ears they cheered, not me. Take me from this abbatoir, husband.” She could hear the boar snorting, the shouts of the spearmen, the crack of the pitmaster’s whip.

“Sweet lady, no. Stay only a while longer. For the folly, and one last match. Close your eyes, no one will see. They will be watching Belaquo and Ghogor. This is no time for—”

~

A queer look passed across Hizdahr zo Loraq’s long, pale face—part fear, part lust, part rapture. He licked his lips.

~

“Kill it,” Hizdahr zo Loraq shouted to the other spearmen. “Kill the beast!”

 ADWD Daenerys VIII

This is peace, she told herself. This is what I wanted, what I worked for, this is why I married Hizdahr. So why does it taste so much like defeat?

~

So Daenerys sat silent through the meal, wrapped in a vermilion tokar and black thoughts, speaking only when spoken to, brooding on the men and women being bought and sold outside her walls, even as they feasted here within the city. Let her noble husband make the speeches and laugh at the feeble Yunkish japes. That was a king’s right and a king’s duty.

~

“I keep my promises,” he told her, as Irri and Jhiqui were robing them for bed. “You wished for peace, and it is yours.”

And you wished for blood, and soon enough I must give it to you, Dany thought, but what she said was, “I am grateful.”

~

Dany slid her arms around him and let him have his way. Drunk as he was, she knew he would not be inside her long.

Nor was he. Afterward he nuzzled at her ear and whispered, “Gods grant that we have made a son tonight.”

The words of Mirri Maz Duur rang in her head. When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before. The meaning was plain enough; Khal Drogo was as like to return from the dead as she was to bear a living child. But there are some secrets she could not bring herself to share, even with a husband, so she let Hizdahr zo Loraq keep his hopes.

 ADWD Daenerys VII

Dany sat amongst the rumpled bedclothes with her arms about her knees, so forlorn that she did not hear when Missandei came creeping in with bread and milk and figs. “Your Grace? Are you unwell? In the black of night this one heard you scream.”

Dany took a fig. It was black and plump, still moist with dew. Will Hizdahr ever make me scream?

~

Hizdahr will bring me peace. He must.

~

“It is not too late to tell them that you have decided not to wed.”

It is, though, the queen thought, sadly. “Hizdahr’s blood is ancient and noble. Our joining will join my freedmen to his people. When we become as one, so will our city.”

“Your Grace does not love the noble Hizdahr. This one thinks you would sooner have another for your husband.”

I must not think of Daario today. “A queen loves where she must, not where she will.”

~

She should be eager with anticipation for her wedding and the night that would follow, she knew. She remembered the night of her first wedding, when Khal Drogo had claimed her maidenhead beneath the stranger stars. She remembered how frightened she had been, and how excited. Would it be the same with Hizdahr? No. I am not the girl I was, and he is not my sun-and-stars.

~

“...This match will save our city, you will see.”

“So we pray. I want to plant my olive trees and see them fruit.” Does it matter that Hizdahr’s kisses do not please me? Peace will please me. Am I a queen or just a woman?

~

“Gracious queen, well met!” Another procession had come up beside her own, and Hizdahr zo Loraq was smiling at her from his own sedan chair. My king. Dany wondered where Daario Naharis was, what he was doing. If this were a story, he would gallop up just as we reached the temple, to challenge Hizdahr for my hand.

~

Side by side the queen’s procession and Hizdahr zo Loraq’s made their slow way across Meereen, until finally the Temple of the Graces loomed up before them, its golden domes flashing in the sun. How beautiful, the queen tried to tell herself, but inside her was some foolish little girl who could not help but look about for Daario.

~

He has gentle hands, she mused, as warm fragrant oils ran between her toes. If he has a gentle heart as well, I may grow fond of him in time.

 ADWD Daenerys VI

Hizdahr zo Loraq arrived an hour after the sun had set. His own tokar was burgundy, with a golden stripe and a fringe of golden beads. Dany told him of her meeting with Reznak and the Green Grace as she was pouring wine for him. “These rituals are empty,” Hizdahr declared, “just the sort of thing we must sweep aside. Meereen has been steeped in these foolish old traditions for too long.” He kissed her hand and said, “Daenerys, my queen, I will gladly wash you from head to heel if that is what I must do to be your king and consort.”

“To be my king and consort, you need only bring me peace. Skahaz tells me you have had messages of late.”

“I have.” Hizdahr crossed his long legs. He looked pleased with himself. “Yunkai will give us peace, but for a price. The disruption of the slave trade has caused great injury throughout the civilized world. Yunkai and her allies will require an indemnity of us, to be paid in gold and gemstones.”

Gold and gems were easy. “What else?”

“The Yunkai’i will resume slaving, as before. Astapor will be rebuilt, as a slave city. You will not interfere.”

“The Yunkai’i resumed their slaving before I was two leagues from their city. Did I turn back? King Cleon begged me to join with him against them, and I turned a deaf ear to his pleas. I want no war with Yunkai. How many times must I say it? What promises do they require?”

“Ah, there is the thorn in the bower, my queen,” said Hizdahr zo Loraq. “Sad to say, Yunkai has no faith in your promises. They keep plucking the same string on the harp, about some envoy that your dragons set on fire.”

“Only his tokar was burned,” said Dany scornfully.

“Be that as it may, they do not trust you. The men of New Ghis feel the same. Words are wind, as you yourself have so oft said. No words of yours will secure this peace for Meereen. Your foes require deeds. They would see us wed, and they would see me crowned as king, to rule beside you.”

Dany filled his wine cup again, wanting nothing so much as to pour the flagon over his head and drown his complacent smile. “Marriage or carnage. A wedding or a war. Are those my choices?”

“I see only one choice, Your Radiance. Let us say our vows before the gods of Ghis and make a new Meereen together.”

The queen was framing her response when she heard a step behind her. The food, she thought. Her cooks had promised her to serve the noble Hizdahr’s favorite meal, dog in honey, stuffed with prunes and peppers. But when she turned to look, it was Ser Barristan standing there, freshly bathed and clad in white, his longsword at his side. “Your Grace,” he said, bowing, “I am sorry to disturb you, but I thought that you would want to know at once. The Stormcrows have returned to the city, with word of the foe. The Yunkishmen are on the march, just as we had feared.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed the noble face of Hizdahr zo Loraq. “The queen is at her supper. These sellswords can wait.”

Ser Barristan ignored him. “I asked Lord Daario to make his report to me, as Your Grace had commanded. He laughed and said that he would write it out in his own blood if Your Grace would send your little scribe to show him how to make the letters.”

“Blood?” said Dany, horrified. “Is that a jape? No. No, don’t tell me, I must see him for myself.” She was a young girl, and alone, and young girls can change their minds. “Convene my captains and commanders. Hizdahr, I know you will forgive me.”

“Meereen must come first.” Hizdahr smiled genially. “We will have other nights. A thousand nights.”

“Ser Barristan will show you out.”

~

If I marry Hizdahr before the sun comes up, will all these armies melt away like morning dew and let me rule in peace?

 ADWD Daenerys V

“Your Radiance, Hizdahr was seen to enter the pyramid of Zhak last evening. He did not depart until well after dark.”

“How many pyramids has he visited?” asked Dany.

“Eleven.”

“And how long since the last murder?”

“Six-and-twenty days.” The Shavepate’s eyes brimmed with fury. It had been his notion to have the Brazen Beasts follow her betrothed and take note of all his actions.

“So far Hizdahr has made good on his promises.”

“How? The Sons of the Harpy have put down their knives, but why? Because the noble Hizdahr asked sweetly? He is one of them, I tell you. That’s why they obey him. He may well be the Harpy.”

“If there is a Harpy.” Skahaz was convinced that somewhere in Meereen the Sons of the Harpy had a highborn overlord, a secret general commanding an army of shadows. Dany did not share his belief. The Brazen Beasts had taken dozens of the Harpy’s Sons, and those who had survived their capture had yielded names when questioned sharply … too many names, it seemed to her. It would have been pleasant to think that all the deaths were the work of a single enemy who might be caught and killed, but Dany suspected that the truth was otherwise. My enemies are legion. “Hizdahr zo Loraq is a persuasive man with many friends. And he is wealthy. Perhaps he has bought this peace for us with gold, or convinced the other highborn that our marriage is in their best interests.”

“If he is not the Harpy, he knows him. I can find the truth of that easy enough. Give me your leave to put Hizdahr to the question, and I will bring you a confession.”

“No,” she said. “I do not trust these confessions. You’ve brought me too many of them, all of them worthless.”

“Your Radiance—”

“No, I said.”

The Shavepate’s scowl turned his ugly face even uglier. “A mistake. The Great Master Hizdahr plays Your Worship for a fool. Do you want a serpent in your bed?”

I want Daario in my bed, but I sent him away for the sake of you and yours. “You may continue to watch Hizdahr zo Loraq, but no harm is to come to him. Is that understood?”

“I am not deaf, Magnificence. I will obey.” Skahaz drew a parchment scroll from his sleeve. “Your Worship should have a look at this. A list of all the Meereenese ships in the blockade, with their captains. Great Masters all.”

Dany studied the scroll. All the ruling families of Meereen were named: Hazkar, Merreq, Quazzar, Zhak, Rhazdar, Ghazeen, Pahl, even Reznak and Loraq. “What am I to do with a list of names?”

“Every man on that list has kin within the city. Sons and brothers, wives and daughters, mothers and fathers. Let my Brazen Beasts seize them. Their lives will win you back those ships.”

“If I send the Brazen Beasts into the pyramids, it will mean open war inside the city. I have to trust in Hizdahr. I have to hope for peace.” Dany held the parchment above a candle and watched the names go up in flame, while Skahaz glowered at her.

~

[...] “I cannot fight two enemies, one within and one without. If I am to hold Meereen, I must have the city behind me. The whole city. I need … I need …” She could not say it.

“Your Grace?” Ser Barristan prompted, gently.

A queen belongs not to herself but to her people.

“I need Hizdahr zo Loraq.”

 ADWD Daenerys IV

Hizdahr wore a plain green robe beneath a quilted vest. He bowed low when he entered, his face solemn. “Have you no smile for me?” Dany asked him. “Am I as fearful as all that?”

“I always grow solemn in the presence of such beauty.”

It was a good start. “Drink with me.” Dany filled his cup herself. “You know why you are here. The Green Grace seems to feel that if I take you for my husband, all my woes will vanish.”

“I would never make so bold a claim. Men are born to strive and suffer. Our woes only vanish when we die. I can be of help to you, however. I have gold and friends and influence, and the blood of Old Ghis flows in my veins. Though I have never wed, I have two natural children, a boy and a girl, so I can give you heirs. I can reconcile the city to your rule and put an end to this nightly slaughter in the streets.”

“Can you?” Dany studied his eyes. “Why should the Sons of the Harpy lay down their knives for you? Are you one of them?”

“No.”

“Would you tell me if you were?”

He laughed. “No.”

“The Shavepate has ways of finding the truth.”

“I do not doubt that Skahaz would soon have me confessing. A day with him, and I will be one of the Harpy’s Sons. Two days, and I will be the Harpy. Three, and it will turn out I slew your father too, back in the Sunset Kingdoms when I was yet a boy. Then he will impale me on a stake and you can watch me die … but afterward the killings will go on.” Hizdahr leaned closer. “Or you can marry me and let me try to stop them.”

“Why would you want to help me? For the crown?”

“A crown would suit me well, I will not deny that. It is more than that, however. Is it so strange that I would want to protect my own people, as you protect your freedmen? Meereen cannot endure another war, Your Radiance.”

That was a good answer, and an honest one. “I have never wanted war. I defeated the Yunkai’i once and spared their city when I might have sacked it. I refused to join King Cleon when he marched against them. Even now, with Astapor besieged, I stay my hand. And Qarth … I have never done the Qartheen any harm …”

“Not by intent, no, but Qarth is a city of merchants, and they love the clink of silver coins, the gleam of yellow gold. When you smashed the slave trade, the blow was felt from Westeros to Asshai. Qarth depends upon its slaves. So too Tolos, New Ghis, Lys, Tyrosh, Volantis … the list is long, my queen.”

“Let them come. In me they shall find a sterner foe than Cleon. I would sooner perish fighting than return my children to bondage.”

“There may be another choice. The Yunkai’i can be persuaded to allow all your freedmen to remain free, I believe, if Your Worship will agree that the Yellow City may trade and train slaves unmolested from this day forth. No more blood need flow.”

“Save for the blood of those slaves that the Yunkai’i will trade and train,” Dany said, but she recognized the truth in his words even so. It may be that is the best end we can hope for. “You have not said you love me.”

“I will, if it would please Your Radiance.”

“That is not the answer of a man in love.”

“What is love? Desire? No man with all his parts could ever look on you and not desire you, Daenerys. That is not why I would marry you, however. Before you came Meereen was dying. Our rulers were old men with withered cocks and crones whose puckered cunts were dry as dust. They sat atop their pyramids sipping apricot wine and talking of the glories of the Old Empire whilst the centuries slipped by and the very bricks of the city crumbled all around them. Custom and caution had an iron grip upon us till you awakened us with fire and blood. A new time has come, and new things are possible. Marry me.”

He is not hard to look at, Dany told herself, and he has a king's tongue. "Kiss me," she commanded.

He took her hand again, and kissed her fingers.

“Not that way. Kiss me as if I were your wife.”

Hizdahr took her by the shoulders as tenderly as if she were a baby bird. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers. His kiss was light and dry and quick. Dany felt no stirrings.

“Shall I … kiss you again?” he asked when it was over.

“No.” On her terrace, in her bathing pool, the little fish would nibble at her legs as she soaked. Even they kissed with more fervor than Hizdahr zo Loraq. “I do not love you.”

Hizdahr shrugged. “That may come, in time. It has been known to happen that way.”

Not with us, she thought. Not whilst Daario is so close. It’s him I want, not you. “One day I will want to return to Westeros, to claim the Seven Kingdoms that were my father’s.”

“One day all men must die, but it serves no good to dwell on death. I prefer to take each day as it comes.”

Dany folded her hands together. “Words are wind, even words like love and peace. I put more trust in deeds. In my Seven Kingdoms, knights go on quests to prove themselves worthy of the maiden that they love. They seek for magic swords, for chests of gold, for crowns stolen from a dragon’s hoard.”

Hizdahr arched an eyebrow. “The only dragons that I know are yours, and magic swords are even scarcer. I will gladly bring you rings and crowns and chests of gold if that is your desire.”

“Peace is my desire. You say that you can help me end the nightly slaughter in my streets. I say do it. Put an end to this shadow war, my lord. That is your quest. Give me ninety days and ninety nights without a murder, and I will know that you are worthy of a throne. Can you do that?”

Hizdahr looked thoughtful. “Ninety days and ninety nights without a corpse, and on the ninety-first we wed?”

“Perhaps,” said Dany, with a coy look. “Though young girls have been known to be fickle. I may still want a magic sword.”

Hizdahr laughed. “Then you shall have that too, Radiance. Your wish is my command. Best tell your seneschal to begin making preparations for our wedding.”

“Nothing would please the noble Reznak more.” If Meereen knew that a wedding was in the offing, that alone might buy her a few nights’ respite, even if Hizdahr’s efforts came to naught. The Shavepate will not be happy with me, but Reznak mo Reznak will dance for joy. Dany did not know which of those concerned her more. She needed Skahaz and the Brazen Beasts, and she had come to mistrust all of Reznak’s counsel. Beware the perfumed seneschal. Has Reznak made common cause with Hizdahr and the Green Grace and set some trap to snare me?

~

“You saw my brother Rhaegar wed. Tell me, did he wed for love or duty?”

The old knight hesitated. “Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit. I know the prince was very fond of her.”

Fond, thought Dany. The word spoke volumes. I could become fond of Hizdahr zo Loraq, in time. Perhaps.

 ADWD Daenerys III

Hizdahr zo Loraq was saying something to the man beside him, yet all the time his eyes were on the dancing girls.

 ADWD Daenerys II

“Will it please Your Worship to hear the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq?”

Will he never admit defeat? “Let him step forth.” Hizdahr was not in a tokar today. Instead he wore a simple robe of grey and blue. He was shorn as well. He has shaved off his beard and cut his hair, she realized. The man had not gone shavepate, not quite, but at least those absurd wings of his were gone. “Your barber has served you well, Hizdahr. I hope you have come to show me his work and not to plague me further about the fighting pits.”

He made a deep obeisance. “Your Grace, I fear I must.”

Dany grimaced. Even her own people would give no rest about the matter. Reznak mo Reznak stressed the coin to be made through taxes. The Green Grace said that reopening the pits would please the gods. The Shavepate felt it would win her support against the Sons of the Harpy. “Let them fight,” grunted Strong Belwas, who had once been a champion in the pits. Ser Barristan suggested a tourney instead; his orphans could ride at rings and fight a mêlée with blunted weapons, he said, a suggestion Dany knew was as hopeless as it was well-intentioned. It was blood the Meereenese yearned to see, not skill. Elsewise the fighting slaves would have worn armor. Only the little scribe Missandei seemed to share the queen’s misgivings.

“I have refused you six times,” Dany reminded Hizdahr.

“Your Radiance has seven gods, so perhaps she will look upon my seventh plea with favor. Today I do not come alone. Will you hear my friends? There are seven of them as well.” He brought them forth one by one. “Here is Khrazz. Here Barsena Blackhair, ever valiant. Here Camarron of the Count and Goghor the Giant. This is the Spotted Cat, this Fearless Ithoke. Last, Belaquo Bonebreaker. They have come to add their voices to mine own, and ask Your Grace to let our fighting pits reopen.”

Dany knew his seven, by name if not by sight. All had been amongst the most famed of Meereen’s fighting slaves … and it had been the fighting slaves, freed from their shackles by her sewer rats, who led the uprising that won the city for her. She owed them a blood debt. “I will hear you,” she allowed.

One by one, each of them asked her to let the fighting pits reopen. “Why?” she demanded, when Ithoke had finished. “You are no longer slaves, doomed to die at a master’s whim. I freed you. Why should you wish to end your lives upon the scarlet sands?”

“I train since three,” said Goghor the Giant. “I kill since six. Mother of Dragons says I am free. Why not free to fight?”

“If it is fighting you want, fight for me. Swear your sword to the Mother’s Men or the Free Brothers or the Stalwart Shields. Teach my other freedmen how to fight.”

Goghor shook his head. “Before, I fight for master. You say, fight for you. I say, fight for me.” The huge man thumped his chest with a fist as big as a ham. “For gold. For glory.”

“Goghor speaks for us all.” The Spotted Cat wore a leopard skin across one shoulder. “The last time I was sold, the price was three hundred thousand honors. When I was a slave, I slept on furs and ate red meat off the bone. Now that I’m free, I sleep on straw and eat salt fish, when I can get it.”

“Hizdahr swears that the winners shall share half of all the coin collected at the gates,” said Khrazz. “Half, he swears it, and Hizdahr is an honorable man.”

No, a cunning man. Daenerys felt trapped. “And the losers? What shall they receive?”

“Their names shall be graven on the Gates of Fate amongst the other valiant fallen,” declared Barsena. For eight years she had slain every other woman sent against her, it was said. “All men must die, and women too … but not all will be remembered.”

Dany had no answer for that. If this is truly what my people wish, do I have the right to deny it to them? It was their city before it was mine, and it is their own lives they wish to squander. “I will consider all you’ve said. Thank you for your counsel.” She rose. “We will resume on the morrow.”

 ADWD Daenerys I

“Magnificence,” prompted Reznak mo Reznak, “will you hear the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq?”

Again? Dany nodded, and Hizdahr strode forth; a tall man, very slender, with flawless amber skin. He bowed on the same spot where Stalwart Shield had lain in death not long before. I need this man, Dany reminded herself. Hizdahr was a wealthy merchant with many friends in Meereen, and more across the seas. He had visited Volantis, Lys, and Qarth, had kin in Tolos and Elyria, and was even said to wield some influence in New Ghis, where the Yunkai’i were trying to stir up enmity against Dany and her rule.

And he was rich. Famously and fabulously rich …

And like to grow richer, if I grant his petition. When Dany had closed the city’s fighting pits, the value of pit shares had plummeted. Hizdahr zo Loraq had grabbed them up with both hands, and now owned most of the fighting pits in Meereen.

The nobleman had wings of wiry red-black hair sprouting from his temples. They made him look as if his head were about to take flight. His long face was made even longer by a beard bound with rings of gold. His purple tokar was fringed with amethysts and pearls. “Your Radiance will know the reason I am here.”

“Why, it must be because you have no other purpose but to plague me. How many times have I refused you?”

“Five times, Your Magnificence.”

“Six now. I will not have the fighting pits reopened.”

“If Your Majesty will hear my arguments …”

“I have. Five times. Have you brought new arguments?”

“Old arguments,” Hizdahr admitted, “new words. Lovely words, and courteous, more apt to move a queen.”

“It is your cause I find wanting, not your courtesies. I have heard your arguments so often I could plead your case myself. Shall I?” Dany leaned forward. “The fighting pits have been a part of Meereen since the city was founded. The combats are profoundly religious in nature, a blood sacrifice to the gods of Ghis. The mortal art of Ghis is not mere butchery but a display of courage, skill, and strength most pleasing to your gods. Victorious fighters are pampered and acclaimed, and the slain are honored and remembered. By reopening the pits I would show the people of Meereen that I respect their ways and customs. The pits are far-famed across the world. They draw trade to Meereen, and fill the city’s coffers with coin from the ends of the earth. All men share a taste for blood, a taste the pits help slake. In that way they make Meereen more tranquil. For criminals condemned to die upon the sands, the pits represent a judgment by battle, a last chance for a man to prove his innocence.” She leaned back again, with a toss of her head. “There. How have I done?”

“Your Radiance has stated the case much better than I could have hoped to do myself. I see that you are eloquent as well as beautiful. I am quite persuaded.”

She had to laugh. “Ah, but I am not.”

“Your Magnificence,” whispered Reznak mo Reznak in her ear, “it is customary for the city to claim one-tenth of all the profits from the fighting pits, after expenses, as a tax. That coin might be put to many noble uses.”

“It might … though if we were to reopen the pits, we should take our tenth before expenses. I am only a young girl and know little of such matters, but I dwelt with Xaro Xhoan Daxos long enough to learn that much. Hizdahr, if you could marshal armies as you marshal arguments, you could conquer the world … but my answer is still no. For the sixth time.”

“The queen has spoken.” He bowed again, as deeply as before. His pearls and amethysts clattered softly against the marble floor. A very limber man was Hizdahr zo Loraq.

He might be handsome, but for that silly hair. Reznak and the Green Grace had been urging Dany to take a Meereenese noble for her husband, to reconcile the city to her rule. Hizdahr zo Loraq might be worth a careful look. Sooner him than Skahaz. The Shavepate had offered to set aside his wife for her, but the notion made her shudder. Hizdahr at least knew how to smile.

[kellyvela]

That "might burn your family" tweet is indicative of what I know is going to happen in fandom: sure, people are indignant now about Dany but most people don't like to be rebels; they like to be co-signed by authority (the "I'm right b/c its canon" crowd"). And no matter how it was sugarcoated, GOT canon is that Dany is a mass-murderer. Those who are not stans will slowly but surely fall in line with this reading of her, not the least b/c they don't want to be wrong AGAIN when the books come out.

If you didn’t see it already, this is the HBO_UK tweet the anon refers: 

You sound very hopeful Anon. I agree that, in general, most people don’t like to be wrong, and certainly they don’t want to be wrong again about the same issue. 

But this fandom is something else…

Certain part of it just decided to live in denial and delusion (oh the irony): “I would never post a pic of dead dany”, “dany belongs to her fans that really love her and not to the misogynist show/books creators” (copyright what?), “I would never read the Books if that is the final”, etc, etc, etc.

We also have the actress that played dany saying/doing things like these:

I stand by Daenerys.

Clarke revealed that she met Beyonce at an Oscars after-party hosted by the musician and her husband, Jay Z. There, she was approached by the host herself, who gushed about Daenerys Targaryen. Beyonce, however, like the rest of the world, was at that point ignorant about Daenerys’ dark turn in Season 8. “All I wanted to scream was ‘Please, please still like me even though my character turns into a mass-killing dictator! Please still think that I’m representing women in a really fabulous way,’ ” Clarke said of the encounter. [x]

About the backlash on the final season: “It was profoundly flattering. Is what it was, because when someone cares that much, that they’re ready to make such a noise about how they believe the characters should have been… should have been finished, and how the story should have been gone. That’s just enormously flattering, that just shows how much everybody loved it.”        

She is using Dany and Drogon images to promote her charity.  Dany is not bringing fire and blood for once, she is a cute little nurse bringing help to those in need.     

We also have certain group of “asoiaf experts“ so called BNF, that decided not to watch the Show years ago, because it’s “sacrilege“, only the books are canon (in this I agree), but they have created their own canon, the way they interprete and understand the Books, and their followers buy everything they say as “the canon”. They still believe in their 20 years old theories that include Dany is the hero, maybe she would have a brief “dark phase“ but then “enters Jon” and they gonna fall in love, make love, celebrate life, have a baby, defeat the big bad guys walk walkers and sacrifice themselves to save the humanity. Tyrion will be the third head of the dragon, etc.  

As you can see Anon, that very human sentiment to hate being wrong, sometimes includes the belief that you can’t be wrong. So all these people (fans/stans/experts/etc) will stand by their beliefs and theories till the very end (when the books are at last published and they read them). And even after that they would say that GRRM is wrong, just like right now they are saying D&D are wrong.  

Dark Dany is not new. It have been theorized for years, And according to Elio García, co-author of the World of Ice and Fire, GRRM himself complimented that Dark Dany essay: “(…) he referred very specifically to the Meereenese Blot website and the knot essays. He said he was told about them, read them, and was very pleased that someone was able to get his difficulties and his intentions perfectly.”

And for those that paid attention, it was clear that the Show was taking that route at least since season 2. Her conversation with the Spice King is very telling. There is also this conversation with Hizdahr Zo Loraq in season 5 that is very much the same conversation she had with Jon just before he killed her. 

The Battle of the Bastard’s script says: “She doesn’t have to look. She only allows the faintest hint of a smile. A smile that says: my tyranny is not ended, motherfucker. It’s only just begun.”

People also have season 7 and even after watching those seven episodes, they believed that GOT was going to have a happy ending, a Disney one, with Targaryen restoration, jonerice wedding, king and queen coronation, boat baby and all. 

But you are right, the sugarcoat was real. They change season 7 - episode 2 title from “The Mad King’s Daughter” to something more poetic/whitewashed: “Stormborn”: 

What I was impressed by was the little hints that we saw of potentially her (Daenerys) becoming like her father in those conversations ( her talking with Varys). You know, threatening to burn somebody alive, in any universes, it’s not great.

Bryan Cogman: She has dragons, an effective form of execution.

But knowing what her father was doing to people that line sticks in your ear and also when inviting him ( Jon) down and she wants him to immediately bend the knee

Bryan Cogman: Yeah, I mean, she sees this as her birthright… it’s plain and simple, you know, they took this from her, it’s hers.

And so much of the episode ( really the whole season) not just for Daenerys but for a lot of our characters is dealing with the legacy of their families and the generations that preceded them and dealing not only with how they feel about it and what they might share with some of those ancestors but how other people perceive you.

That legacy it’s kind of why I wanted to originally call it the Mad King’s daughter (I like Stormborn, I think is a great title actually), I really wanted to call it the Mad King’s daughter and actually it would have made more sense.

In the original edit there were more characters referring to her like this in pretty much every scene and I think some of that was lost in the final edit but in the original script and in the original edit ( which was longer) pretty much every character that wasn’t in the Daenerys‘s circle was referring to her as “the Mad King’s daughter is here” .

Considering this idea that she’s got a reputation before she has ever set foot there, because she has a brother’s reputation too, that first scene is definitely about her reconciling with that, wrestling with how much of that legacy is good for her brand and what isn’t and certainly that is a big part of the no-fire bombing strategy.

It’s like: you could come in here and torch the whole place and everyone would be horrified and what have you achieved? If you want to rule, you need to take a different approach.

But under that, and I think you picked up on something in that first scene, is that she’s got a real kind of need and desire to go in guns blazing and from an emotional point of view the scene has to set up this.

Game of Thrones’ Writer Bryan Cogman: In Conversation (Part 2)

The Mad King’s Daughter, she’s got a real kind of need and desire to go in guns blazing. 

Yeah, hero material you all.

And even during season 8, after episode 2, Bryan Cogman made this really telling comparison between Sansa and Dany:

Sansa knows that of all the Starks that were ripped from Winterfell, she suffered the most to get it back. She’s the driving force for getting it back. Now she’s being told, “It’s not yours, and it’s not the Starks’ anymore. It belongs to Hitler’s daughter, the worst person in the world’s daughter, the daughter of the person who murdered your grandfather and uncle in the worst way possible. And guess what? Your brother, who you convinced to step up when he wanted to fuck off because of his death experience, bent the knee to her and is telling you that she’s your queen.” What part of Sansa’s reaction to any of this is irrational?

At the same time, if you’re Dany, this is the family that stole your family’s legacy. You grew up as a child living in constant fear that you were going to be murdered the next day. Then you’re married off to a warlord, and you’ve scraped and suffered and endured, and here you are. You’re going to help these people who destroyed your life and your family’s lives. Where’s the gratitude?

Even if he described both sides’ positions and sentiments, if you say one side’s reaction is not irrational, and then call the other side “Hitler’s daughter”, you know exactly who is the good guy and who is the evil one. 

D&D surely sugarcoated Dany, they were not calling her plainly “The Mad King’s Daughter”, but they were subtly telling us that she indeed was Aery’s pretty version: 

Jon: She’ll be a good queen. For all of us. She’s not her father.

Sansa: No, she’s much prettier.

—GOT season 8 - episode 1

In that “I stand by Daenerys” article, the interviewer recalled Kit Harington’s words about Jon killing Dany, during season 8 filming:

“I think it’s going to divide,” Harington says of the finale’s fan reaction. “But if you track her story all the way back, she does some terrible things. She crucifies people. She burns people alive. This has been building. So, we have to say to the audience: ‘You’re in denial about this woman as well. You knew something was wrong. You’re culpable, you cheered her on.’”

Harington adds he worries the final two episodes will be accused of being sexist, an ongoing criticism of GoT that has recently resurfaced perhaps more pointedly than ever before. “One of my worries with this is we have Cersei and Dany, two leading women, who fall,” he says. “The justification is: Just because they’re women, why should they be the goodies? They’re the most interesting characters in the show. And that’s what Thrones has always done. You can’t just say the strong women are going to end up the good people. Dany is not a good person. It’s going to open up discussion but there’s nothing done in this show that isn’t truthful to the characters. And when have you ever seen a woman play a dictator?”

After reading what Kit said, Dany stans gone rabid. They said things like HBO forced him to say those words and others simply insulted and hated him. Because, you know, he is wrong. D&D are also wrong. They are just a pair of white misogynist dudes that can’t stand women in power… SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

I mean, look at these headlines. Dany stans/targ lovers are now justifying genocide. They are making/selling/buying “Her Satanic Majestic” T-shirts. 

So there you have it Anon. Some of them decided to believe Dany will still be the hero in the Books, because she ended slavery you know, that’s not what villains do, if you think different, you are a slavery apologist, also misogynist, and surely a Stark stan, those fucking classists xenophobes…   

Some others just joined “Her Satanic Majesty” cult. Those ungrateful peasants deserved to be burned alive because they didn’t love Dany. it was their fault that Dany had to go in guns blazing on them. Burn them all! Dracarys! Fire and Blood! 

It would be a long ride Anon.  

[thesevenkingdomsrightfulqueen]

After getting my shit together enough to think about more of the events in the newest Game of Thrones episode, I have realized I’d like to say something.

As I was browsing the recent posts of Game of Thrones, I saw people talking about Mad!Dany. This has basically been talked about since the first season, I think. People expect her to turn into her father, to burn innocent people, destroy cities, etc. Well, I believe in Daenerys Targaryen, and I’m gonna tell you why:

I believe in the Daenerys from season one, who watched the women who were about to be raped or had already been raped by Khal Drogo’s men and decided to claim them and protect them. 

I believe in the Daenerys in season two, who after finding one of her Dothraki handmaidens dead, blamed herself because she wasn’t there to comfort her or hold her as she passed away.

I believe in the Daenerys in season three who looked at the children with chains around their necks and decided she would free them and never let one more child know what it’s like to be a slave. I believe in the Daenerys in season three that tried to give a man on the walk of punishment a drink, who told the Unsullied that they could stop being soldiers and leave and never see her again without coming to any harm.

I believe in the Daenerys in season four who was horrified at the realization that the Unsullied had been given awful names to remind them that they meant nothing to anybody and told them they were allowed to change their names.

I believe in the Daenerys in season five who refused to open the fighting pits because murder shouldn’t be entertainment, the Daenerys who took Tyrion in as her advisor because she realized he was smart and capable and would serve her well and check her impulses.

I believe in the Daenerys in season six who talked to a young, widowed Khaleesi and was sorry that her Khal had not died sooner because he was abusing her. I believe in the Daenerys who was worried about her emotions and mental health when she let Daario go and realized she was in the game now, that she was going to start to begin to take what she always wanted even though she was afraid.

I believe in the Daenerys in season seven who finally realized Jon Snow was telling the truth about what was beyond the wall, and that she hoped she deserved the support of the North and everyone else.

I believe in the Daenerys in season eight who smiled and laughed and joked with Jon about riding dragons and staying in that remote area of the North with no one else around them for the rest of their lives.

Daenerys has just lost another child, another dragon she brought to life and raised. When Rhaegal fell, I watched her as she glared at Euron and started flying toward him and the Iron Fleet. I watched her yell in anger and agony, and I saw how much she wanted to burn him and those ships into oblivion. But she didn’t. Instead, she turned with Drogon and left. The soft, gentle and kind side of Daenerys is still there. I think it will always be there, and I don’t think reminding her that she might turn mad like her father will help her at all. What everyone who serves her needs to do is have faith. Daenerys’ reign of terror will end as soon as she sees a child cry. She has never been innately evil, and if she does take the Seven Kingdoms and rule as Queen, she will do a great job.

[petyrsbaelish]

D&D’s show plot rewritten

Imagine if in an alternate timeline D&D decided to go full Darth Sansa. They kept her in the vale, had LF teach her lessons (they still could have cut out Harry-the-Heir and propositioned Sansa to Robyn Arryn).

They could have done the pink letter from Ramsey to Jon, except instead of fake Arya they could have had Ramsey capture Rickon. Sansa hears this news in the Vale and decides she has to help her brother. LF agreed as he feels it is a good power move. Jon prepares for battle after being resurrected as Sansa prepares for battle.

Battle of the Bastards ensues and as Jon is losing, Sansa and the nights of the vale arrive to win the battle. The ending scene isn’t a crowd of men changing “The King in the North,” instead, they’re chanting “The Queen in the North.”

From there, Sansa could send Jon to get help from the dragon queen. Season 7 wouldn’t change too much, except Arya and Sansas reunion could be better. I expect some animosity but they are sisters after all. Sansa still could kill LF, but instead I think she should have convinced Arya he was there to help house Stark, and house Stark only (even though he wants to be king eventually.) No execution from an unfair trial.

Moving on to season 8, this means Jon and Daenerys are still traveling back to winterfell. He never gave her the North, because he never had the North. They arrive in Winterfell and Sansa is happy to see an ally. Dany, of course, will try to get Sansa to bend the knee which will cause tension between them. This, along with the reveal of Jon being a Targaryen, causes Sansa and LF to see a chance to get rid of a monarch.

Meanwhile down South, the smallfolk have turned against Cersei. They riot in the streets after the death of their beloved Queen Margaery and Tommen. They riot because they heard the dead are coming. Cersei knows she lost, but is desperately trying to regain power.

It is clear up North that the dead are coming. Daenerys decides to fight for the living (with influence from her lover Jon and with the advice from Tyrion that it will make the smallfolk love her.) During the battle, the deaths that happened in the show still happen, but Grey Worm dies too. Having a child and two advisors die, Daenerys is distraught. She doesn’t have time to grieve and unfriendly Northerners keep stabbing at open wounds. She doesn’t get the glory that she thought she would from fighting in the battle. So she decides to move south. If they don’t love her up North, she’ll make them love her when she is Queen.

So, Daenerys goes South to fight Cersei with her remaining army. What was perceived to be an easy fight due to the smallfolk disliking Cersei turns to a full battle once Dany realizes King’s Landing does not want a Targaryen rule. After promise after promise from her childhood is broken, she breaks. The gates did not fly open with a populace waiting for her to rule, the lords and ladies did not cheer for her arrival. She lost her children, she lost everything. She replaces that anger with fire. She goes straight to the castle and burns it down.

Inside, Jaime is there having left Brienne to put an end to his sisters tyrant rule. He stands next to his twin as he slits her throat, fire raging around them as Daenerys starts burning the castle.

Next, something unexpected happens. There are explosions of green around King’s Landing. Wildfire. Daenerys realizes what she has done and breaks down even more. She didn’t mean to do this, all she wanted was a house with a red door. She gets on Drogon and flies.

The Northern army arrives at King’s Landing after the city explodes. Shocked and horrified, the troops scan the city for survivors. The remaining lords and ladies have a council.

Since the North is the only monarch left, Sansa is titled Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. The last shot of the show is her coronation and as she sits on the throne she turns and smiles at a familiar face, LF in the corner smirking.

“He would see this country burn if he could be King of the Ashes.”

[nutellaninja0001]

There are people that honestly believe that Jaime will go north to pledge his sword to D? Did they not notice his horrified face as he watched his men burn in Spoils of War and the history he has with the Mad King? Make it make sense...lol.

Hi!

Oddly enough, there are fans out there that believe next season Jaime will pledge his sword to Daenerys and team up with Tyrion to be on the side of the “goodies” there’s a few problems with this idea and to think so shows a lack of any real understanding to Jaime’s character at all.

Jaime. Lannister. Doesn’t. Believe. In. Daenerys. As. A. Ruler.

Simple as that and season 7 showcased it in a way they never have before. We all know Jaime has PTSD from what happened with Aerys Targaryen. It was a moment that defined the next decade of his life and we saw what that decision costs him. The snickers and sneers of people, a nickname of “kingslayer” “oatbreaker” and a man without honor. It deeply troubles Jaime and although he tries to ignore it, ultimately hurts him. But he stands by his decision because it saved thousands upon thousands of innocent lives and KL but it still hunts him.

(Set not mine)

Jaime is still haunted by the memories and it’s still VERY fresh in his mind all of these years later. Unlike past betrayals, this wasn’t done for Jaime’s benefit or political pursuits but a last ditch attempt at saving the city regardless of the consequences from it.

Jaime has not forgotten this! And the show made sure we saw Jaime’s reaction throughout the Field of Fire 2.0 to see just how hard he took what was happening to him.

(GIF not mine)

When he first sees the Drogon he is terrified. He tells Bronn they could hold off the Dothraki but the minute he hears the screeches everything stops and suddenly Aerys is alive again and Jaime is unable to stop these people from being turned into ash.

Look how deviated Jaime is in this moment. Now, Jaime has always been a man to do stupid things. At the Whispering Wood he tried to cut through Robb’s men to get to him and he tries another desperate attempt to end the war with one swing but here we get to see it. We get to truly feel what Jaime is feeling in this moment and with how it is shot we see this feels a lot more personal.

(GIF not mine)

The way he is so intent on Daenerys with Drogon RIGHT THERE! Knowing full well he will be burned even if he is successful. It doesn’t matter and later on, after he’s rescued by Bronn he’s overwhelmed at the idea of one dragon, let alone 3 of them.

(GIF not mine)

First hand Jaime has seen the chaos, destruction, and absolute ruin the dragons can cause with Daenerys leading the charge. And that’s the woman fans think Jaime will pledge to? The woman he tried to murder last season? The woman who is making good on her father’s last wish? Daenerys is the legacy Jaime sacrificed everything for to end.

He has no love for her and his feelings for Daenerys are justified after she proved she was her father’s daughter. She also wants to burn Cersei whom is pregnant (at the moment) with Jaime’s child. Why would he pledge to a woman who wants to see Cersei burn? And everyone who doesn’t bend?

That is not someone he would ever pledge his sword to and if anything Jaime is going to be siding with the Starks/Sansa next season but the fans want to keep pushing the idea that everyone will flock to Daenerys as their “savior”

Thanks for the ask!

[ghostofbambifanfiction]

Can you be more specific on why you like Arya and Sansa? So many people like Arya for being strong and fierce, but for some reasons so many hate Sansa for what she was like in the earlier seasons. Can you give specific instances why you like both of them? And why not Daenerys? Thanks! (I'm just really curious, please indulge me :) )

I’m going to talk about Dany first (and I’m sticking to the show here, though I have read the books, but they’re never getting finished, let’s be real), and then I'll put my thoughts on Sansa and Arya in another post (hey, you asked, so I’m delivering) because otherwise this will go on forever and it’s cleaner this way. Putting a ‘read more’ here because this is long (lol I’m at work I should be working)

To preface, I would not dislike Daenerys as much as I do if she didn’t want to be queen. I’ll touch on this when I talk about Arya, but I appreciate characters who have the self-awareness required to know who and what they are. Since Daenerys does want to rule Westeros, I have so many issues.

I also think the eighth season is going to see her turning on most of the people she’s currently allied with and I think the catalyst for that is the discovery that Jon is the legitimate child of Rhaegar and Lyanna, and therefore his claim to the throne supersedes hers. I’ll gladly admit that I’m wrong if I am, but right now I don’t think I am. Here’s why.

1) She is an ineffective ruler

After Dany liberated the slave cities of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, she stayed to rule and did a terrible job of it. Nobody in particular was better off, the majority of the slaves she freed were homeless and scraping for food in mess halls, and she killed elders who had spoken out against slavery without even listening to what any of them had to say. She has the mind for conquering, not for ruling.

(side note: why does she even want to be queen? It’s something she just seemed to jump on in season two without ever reasoning it out, and from there on in it’s like an obsession that has grown inside her. Now she says she wants to make the world a better place but she hasn’t the skills to do it. It should be enough for her to liberate oppressed societies and allow somebody qualified to fix them. But it’s not.)

The truth is, Meereen saw no real improvement until after Dany skipped town on Drogon, because Tyrion had the idea to replace the slave trade with actual trade. He made changes that impacted the city’s economy and allowed its residents to start supporting themselves, so of course, the slavers attacked just as Dany came back, at which point her bright idea was to decimate an entire armada when she needed ships. Tyrion had to talk her out of it. Which brings me to her next point.

2) She requires constant babysitting

It’s ironic to me that Tyrion told Cersei that “the difference” between Cersei and Daenerys is that Dany knows herself well enough to hire advisors who tell her not to do dumb, impulsive things, firstly because that is such a low bar, Tyrion! There are people out there (Sansa) who do not require that kind of monitoring! Secondly because Cersei is far more self-aware than Dany.

Cersei knows that the things she does are bad and does them anyway because fuck it, she knows she wants power for power’s sake. Dany has such a narrow view of justice that actually thinks she’s being righteous when she burns people to death (more on that later) and that is the most dangerous mindset a leader can have. Compare that, if you will, to Sansa, who quite sensibly told Arya that chopping off heads might feel good but that’s not the way to make people work together. Jorah, Tyrion and Jon have all had to speak out against Dany’s more violent predilections and she’s fast running out of people she wants to listen to. She and Tyrion are certainly hanging on by a thread. Which brings me to my next point.

3) She mistreats her own Hand

The relationship between Dany and Tyrion absolutely reeks of Aerys and Tywin, their respective fathers, who were the best of friends until Aerys’ jealousy and paranoia forced them to opposite sides of a bloody war. Dany is all too happy to take credit for Tyrion’s best ideas when they work (and he is happy to let her) but as soon as one of his plans go wrong she whirls on him and berates him like he’s a piece of trash. Everything’s his fault when a plan goes wrong.

When he brought up the matter of the succession she accused him of plotting her death with his brother, which not only is batshit insane but proves that Daenerys gives far less of a shit about the future of Westeros than she claims to, because if she cared that much, she’d care about planning to carry on the legacy she wants to build. She can’t seem to forgive Tyrion for the heinous crime of…loving his siblings? Trying to broker the most peaceful end to the war? Not wanting his brother to die?

Honestly, her treatment of Tyrion is one of the most telling aspects of her character and I am aghast that nobody seems to be talking about it.

4) Like all of the maddest Targaryens before her, she gets off on burning people

This one isn’t subtle at all. Sorry to drop the intellectual veneer for a moment but she fucking loves that shit. It doesn’t bother her a whit to watch people scream as they’re being burned alive. She takes pleasure in burning people, you can see the satisfaction on her face, and a good leader should never take pleasure in something like that.

(FYI people like to mention how Sansa smiled when Ramsay’s dogs ate him when I make this point and to that I blow a raspberry. That was her personal moment of justice against her rapist and abuser, not the lord of some house who wouldn’t submit to her, there is no fair comparison)

Dany was smiling like a satisfied cat when she burned down the temple of the Dosh Khaleen and killed everybody inside it, which was something she did to seize power, by the way. She didn’t do it to stick it to a bunch of misogynists, though I’m sure that was an added bonus. She did the exact same thing Cersei did to the Sept of Baelor and for the exact same reasons, yet only one of them is painted as a villain by the viewing public even though you can argue that Cersei was also sticking it to misogynists when she killed the High Sparrow. The only reason for that is that Dany was given humble origins while the narrative told us that Cersei was bad from the very beginning.

Theon is still beating himself up for killing and burning those two farm boys — as he should. Stannis burned his daughter and everyone was horrified. Jon was so repulsed to watch Mance Rayder burn that he defied Stannis and shot him in the heart. How many times is the show going to have to tell us that burning people alive is a terrible act of evil before people stop cheering Dany on for it? When Ned Stark was Lord of Winterfell, he understood and felt the weight of executing a man. Jon feels the weight of it, too, as we’ve seen on a couple of occasions. Sansa clearly thought long and hard about executing Petyr — that’s what her moment of reflection on the battlements was meant to show us. Dany just… doesn’t care. I think she cared a bit when she had Daario execute Mossador, but I can’t think of any other occasion where she has been directly responsible for a death and been remotely bothered by it.

So. yes.

I think the reason a lot of people – and in particular a lot of women – support Daenerys is because she has a girl power narrative. She does have a girl power narrative, it’s true, but that is not a good enough reason to support a character who on so many occasions has proven herself to be unqualified for the job she wants, not to mention bordering on dangerously unhinged and increasingly paranoid. In that sense I think her season 1 narrative was genius, because her origins and the way in which she started to gain power (as well as her gender) has granted her a kind of automatic forgiveness for behaviours that several male characters – and Cersei, most importantly, because she also has a girl power narrative (and she and Dany are two peas in a pod) but the show told us she was a baddie from episode one – would be dragged through the mud for. And I’m sorry, but it’s not good enough for me. I’m not going to support a powerful female character just because she’s a powerful female character who did some good things once. Powerful women can be good or bad.

Some other points re: Daenerys

The dragons are weapons of mass destruction and need to be killed. They’re nukes with wings. She’s burned her own people with those monsters because fire doesn’t fucking differentiate. Sorry not sorry.

The Targaryens are literally GRRM’s interpretation of the Aryan race. It’s practically in their name.

“I have tried to make it explicit in the novels that the dragons are destructive forces, and Dany has found that out as the tried to rule the city of Meereen and be queen there. She has the power to destroy, she can wipe out entire cities, and we certainly see that in Fire and Blood, we see the dragons wiping out entire armies, wiping out towns and cities, destroying them, but that doesn’t necessarily enable you to rule – it just enables you to destroy.” – George R R Martin, folks.

One of the show’s directors, Jack Bender, made a reference to Hitler when talking about her. He said we should be “horrified” by her. No shit, Jack. No shit.

“Do you wonder if the gods ever get lonely?” Just… this line. Get a grip, woman.

[une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir]

ICONOGRAPHY OF DEMANDING TANGERINE (1)

Hello.

This post is somewhat of a response to this conversation discussing Danielle Terroris and Hitler imagery through Nuremberg / Triumph des Willens at the Mereen pyramid. While I’m not an expert in any of the subjects mentioned (architecture, film making, history), I was exposed to WW2 while growing up (my father was a part-time historian) as well as through a parallel interest (aviation).

I want to make this very clear, my objective isn’t to offend anyone. However, since this post will discuss Hitler (and his cohorts) as well as Nazi Germany, it will upset people in general as that’s the nature of tackling such a beast. I tried to censor the imagery posted, so more sensible people can actually finish this without a meltdown, but there’s so much it can be done.

I tried to be neutral and succinct, but I have a tendency to rant and tangent, as well as to soapbox, so this got lengthy. I also warn everyone that english isn’t my first language and I’m often misunderstood for using words that have negative connotations unintentionally (the last time it happened was with “abortion”). Again, I don’t intend offend anyone. If you feel offended, I’m sorry.

This is the first of a series of posts about such a subject, as this isn’t the first time nor is it the last time that ASOIAF / GoT stuff which is related to Danielle / House Terroris was lifted almost in its entirety from Hitler / Nazi stuff. This isn’t about the Mereen pyramid, because I lost that post (unfortunately the lights went out and I have to redo it), which is just as bad as this one (or worse, IDK - I’m not very good at gauging that kind of thing).

ETA: 04/01/2019: I’ve rewritten this, hoping to be clearer.

S06E06 - Blood of my Blood

This is the episode where Bran has his second prophetic vision, divided into three sections. The first seems like a “summary” of some sort. The second is mostly a “detailed” flashback to Robert’s Rebellion endgame (FIRE) regarding Aerys (pyromancers decanting wildfire, Aerys screaming “burn them all”, Jaime killing Aerys and the pyromancers (and sitting on the throne), Ned at the Tower of Joy asking for Lyanna and then his bloody hands while being with her proper. The third is mostly about the Night King / Others - White Walkers / Wights (ICE).

In the very first section, there is a segment of two images which is repeated four times: a dragon flying through the sky and a dragon flying over King’s Landing (hereby called B). It’s worth noting that the second segment, of a dragon flying over King’s Landing, had already been repeated in Bran’s first vision and that D&D have commented that this is one of the most important images of the whole show.

These (B) segments are always followed by someone from House Terroris (affiliated with dragons), either Aerys screaming “burn them all” (hereby called C1) or Danielle with Drogon on her shoulder (hereby called C2). By presenting (B+C) together, this “three dragon segments” visually associates Aerys and Danielle as “more of the same”, but they also share similar themes: “threat by fire power” + “loyalty / obedience subjugation. (C1) Aerys is demanding his pyromancers to burn everyone with wildfire, while (C2) is Danielle birthing the dragons (deadly and violent fire affiliated animals) while her khalasar kneel in the background.

Moreover, ( C) is always followed by a specific Night King segment, (C1) Aerys is followed by Night King giving a “shrug” upwards and an Other - White Walker / Wight (hereby called D1), while (C2) Danielle is followed by Night King converting Craster’s son into an Other - White Walker (hereby called D2). Once again, by presenting (BC+D) together, this visually associates them as “more of the same” as well as portray those affiliated with fire and ice as “more of the same”, but they also share similar themes as above: “threat by [fire / ice] power” + “loyalty / obedience subjugation”. (C1) the pyromancers follow Aerys and (C2) Dothraki / Dragons follow Danielle, while (D1-D2) Others - White Walkers / Wights all follow the Night King). This invokes the name of the (book) series as well as the destructive elemental forces of ice and fire: The Song of Ice and Fire (a poem about the end of the world being delivered by either).

A similar argument can be made for the segment that preceds (B), as (BC1D1) Aerys is preceded by (A1) the pyromancers and the wildfire and (BC2D2) Danielle is preceded by (A2) Cat at the Red Wedding (screaming after losing her child Robb). Once again, the very nature of presenting (A+BC+D) together, visually associates them as “more of the same”, but they also share similar imagery and themes as above: (A) “madness” of (BC) leading to (D) “death / blood sacrifice”, because “only death can pay for life”. (A1) Aerys was obsessed with wildfire and the pinnacle of his madness was his wish to burn King’s Landing; (D1) is the (ice) embodiment of “death” + “blood sacrifice” - that being the natural (fire counterpart) conclusion if the wildfire had gone off > King’s Landing as a wasteland. (A2) Danielle was obsessed with the dragon eggs and the pinnacle of her “madness” is when she loses her son and the wish to hatch the eggs in Drogo’s funeral pyre (in the words, the word madness is specifically used for this moment); (D2) is the (ice) embodiment of death as well as blood sacrifice (conversion of Craster’s son into Other / White Walker) - that being the (fire counterpart) conclusion of Danielle birthing the dragons (death of Rhaego / Drogo / Mirri Maz Duur to pay for the life of each dragon).

Below is a decomposition frame by frame of this first section from a good quality video on youtube (there is at least one frame missing, but that’s youtube encoding’s fault, and I’m sure the point comes across obvious, regardless). I’ve added tags and rewrote the section above, in what I wish is a more comprehensible way (probably not).

The (BC2D2) Danielle segment is also repeated in the second section twice, though (A2) Red Wedding does not preced it and as such, it doesn’t follow the A2BC2D2 pattern. The Red Wedding does show up twice, but the scene is different since it’s Robb proper dying instead (the Red Wedding is important in these trippy visions about the struggle between Ice and Fire, because in the books Danielle sees it in her House of Undying visions, even though that has nothing to do with her whatsoever). Again, this is a subject for another post, so let’s ignore that and the rest of the “unrelated” stuff. However, (BC2D2) Danielle segment is further associated with both Aerys and "fire threat” (specifically with wildfire).

The first (BC2D2) Danielle segment is preceded first by “passage of time” and followed by a long “flashback” Robert’s Rebellion endgame, most of it about the Aerys and Jaime, as well as the thwarted Wildfire Plot. It begins with pyromancers decanting wildfire, mad king Aerys screaming “burn them all”, wildfire catching (which never happened in the past), the pyromancers putting the wildfire in the shelves, Jaime drawing his sword, Ned at the Tower of Joy, Jaime killing Aerys, Robb at the Red Wedding, Jaime killing Aerys some more (how I understand him). There’s a succession of “unrelated” segments, then we have Jaime sitting on the Iron Throne, wildfire catching once again (further than before), followed by the second (BC2D2) Danielle segment, Jaime killing the pyromancers, two more “unrelated” segments, Jaime drawing his sword against Aerys again, and wildfire catching again (even further than before).

This may seem like I’m rambling, but it’s not. In (very long) summary, these are the main things to keep in mind: the imagery of a dragon flying through the air and casting it’s shadow over King’s Landing (B - i enclose a shitty gif of it), Aerys / Danielle having “threat by fire power” + “loyalty / obedience subjugation” (C1 // C2), the “madness” of Aerys / Danielle leading to “death / blood sacrifice” (A+BC+D). There are a few secondary things to keep in mind for (C2) Danielle birthing the dragons in specific: Danielle with the black dragon over her shoulder as well as the colour composition of the scene (white / red / black), the name of this episode which is “Blood of my Blood” and Danielle with a powerful symbol over her shoulder juxtaposed with Dothraki’s submission towards her (both because of the power of this symbol as well as because she’s seen as a special one due to having birthed the dragons).

This is also the same episode where Danielle gives a speech to the Dothraki to rally them up to invade Westeros. This episode (as well as the former) was directed by Jack Bender, a reputed director who has done several heavy symbolical shows such as the Sopranos, Alias, Lost (he has... *ehem*... background in this type of stuff). He also commented on this scene in specific, likening Danielle to Hitler at Nuremberg. "At the end of the scene, you should be somewhat roused by her and a little horrified. She's not Hitler at Nuremberg, but she's got the power." The video of this scene can be seen here.

Danielle is riding with Daario and her newly acquired khalasar of 100,000, discussing the logistics of hauling their arses to Westeros. At the end of the conversation, Daario asks what they’ll do after arriving in Westeros and Danielle says that she takes what is hers, but Daario is sceptical and tells her that she wasn’t born to sit on the iron chair but to be a conqueror. Danielle ponders this, rides off in her silver and then rides on Drogon, to rally her khalasar to invade Westeros. She models her speech to match a “conqueror” more than a “leader”, as she presents her plans in a way that is fitting with the Dothraki style of life: pillaging and plundering, as well as destruction and violence. She’s met with the Dothraki’s approval.

I’ve attached the imagery used on this first portion below, as well as some observations, and made a gif about the dragon’s shadow (which I link instead of display here because of how big it is). The soundtrack for this segment, is the theme of House Terroris (or a variation of it, I can’t tell because I don’t hear that wretched thing), a theme which is both aggressive and powerful.

Danielle riding a dragon and then making her speech on top of it, is both a powerful firepower symbol, since the dragons are the “nuclear deterrent” capable of unfathomable destruction (this is the power that Bender refers to), as well as a representation of her being a messianic figure, since she (and others) believe that she is a special one due to hatching the dragons (notice that these are the same themes as (C2) Danielle with a dragon over her shoulder - it has come full circle, it’s now Danielle over the dragon’s shoulder). The contents of Danielle’s speech are rather disturbing as well and come in tandem with the themes before. She’s appealing to destruction and violence while on top of a powerful firepower symbol, based on the divine birth-right of being the pretender to the Iron Throne as the last member of House Terroris as well as the Stallion that Mounts the World from Dothraki prophecy (which she indirectly panders to when she mentions Drogo’s promise, she switches Rhaego with herself as she believes she’s the Stallion that Mounts the World). Her speech is framed by all sorts of crazy faces and screaming, which while “normal” in war rally speeches to instil aggression and raise morale, it’s also evocative of her father’s madness (notice that these are the same themes of (C1) Aerys in his madness demanding the pyromancers to burn everyone).

Furthermore, Danielle begins by declaring that all the Dothraki as her blood riders, which is a specific dothraki that has pledged their life in the service of their khal. The episode title, “Blood of my Blood” is the dothraki saying that illustrates this, as the blood rider’s blood is considered to be the khal’s own blood. She proceeds by telling the Dothraki that she won’t ask of them more than any other khal has asked their blood riders before (making the distinction between leader and subordinates clear), then explains that she wants to reclaim Westeros and asks if they will support her on this. In other words, Danielle is asking for the Dothraki to swear to her their unquestionable loyalty and total obedience from that point forward. In summary, this is Danielle appealing for unity, loyalty and obedience under her rule through their conjoined blood, FOREVER. When she’s finished, the khalasar roar their approval and raise their hands in salute towards her.

I’ve attached the imagery used on this second portion below, as well as some observations. The shooting angles that are used for this scene are meant to highlight the dothraki as an endless united yet faceless group (none of them are named characters - this is true for the Dothraki in general, especially as the plot advances) and Danielle as their undisputable leader (she’s focused alone or bigger / higher than them).

Triumph of the Will

Triumph of the Will is a nazi propaganda film directed by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the 1934 nazi party congress that took place in Nuremberg and lasted for four days. It was neither the first political propaganda film, as those had been rolling since the previous century (an infamous example), nor was it particularly ground-breaking, as the filmmaking techniques used for it were not new either. However, Riefenstahl had talent in evocative imagery and the budget for this movie was HUGE (as it was sponsored by the government), which meant that everything was “cranked up to eleven”.

Such Riefenstahl could use her talent for symbolism as well as all the cinematic tricks of the time, all to push the Nazi political agenda and portray it exactly the way they wanted to. She did so in such an effective way, that it gained several movie awards (even in the United States). it’s considered the most effective propaganda piece ever made, not only because it has influenced many (mostly fictional) works afterwards but also because everyone today still thinks that this movie portrays Hitler / Nazi Germany accurately (think about it, a propaganda movie made by the Nazi, with the objective of passing off their ideal image of who they are, is accepted to accurately portray who they were... to this day).

As one original poster said, every single filmmaker in existence as well as every historian has seen this movie and has studied it, so they know everything that goes onto it, techniques used and themes explored. There’s actually much more than the things I’ll talk about (and I don’t even know them all), but they are useless for a framing in this context (for example, it contains stuff of identification, religion proper, prosperity, etc). If you’d like to watch this movie, there’s a link on wikipedia (just checked).

Triumph of the Will opens with a prologue, the only commentary of the film (besides a few name cards at some point), as the rest is framed through real footage alone (albeit artistically done) and sometimes some music (used in a revolutionary way in this movie, especially to draw and pander to nationalism). It then begins with flying through the clouds, until it finally reveals the bucolic city of Nuremberg. The cruciform shadow of Hitler's plane is visible as it passes over the buildings and those below. Upon arriving at the Nuremberg airport, Hitler and other Nazi leaders emerge from his plane to thunderous applause and a cheering crowd.

The objective of this airplane segment is to portray Hitler as a messiah sent by the gods, descending on the German people to grace them with salvation. Moreover, the focus on aircraft technology (propeller spinning and flight instruments, etc) as well as endless military parades, have the objective of framing the regime with powerful firepower symbolism. As a side-note, the nazi party hymn plays through this airplane segment. This hymn was composed with the intention of instilling aggression as well as raising morale and it’s about a man who was killed during the bad times (they were really bad times) before the nazi came to power, such it was meant as a musical representation of some sort of religious sacrificial myth.

I’ve attached the imagery used on this second portion below, as well as some observations. I believe the similarities of these will speak for themselves, in comparison to it’s equivalent above.

SIDE NOTE: I also enclose a gif with the airplane + shadow part because of how bizarre the similarity is (remember this and this, I wish I knew how to put them side by side) as well as the theatrical posters for this movie and it’s spiritual ancestor, Victory of Faith (also filmed by Riefenstahl, directed practically the same way but without as much detail and with more technical errors). To contextualise why I’m putting these three theatrical posters (remember this).

The colour triad red / white / black were the official colours of Nazi Germany, which they used for their propaganda posters and general imagery (they also added gold in the earlier days, for the sake of inclusion and unification for the whole population). The black eagle is the coat-of-arms of Germany (for centuries) and was portrayed in Nazi iconography as well as propaganda as an allegory for the country proper, representing their ideals and their powe and it usually showed up on top of an image to symbolise authority. Just for this movie alone (since we’re talking about it), the black eagle shows up in all of them and it two of them, it shows up over the shoulder.

The third day starts with a Hitler Youth rally, where Hitler makes a speech, describing unity in militaristic terms how the youth must become one people and that everything they do represents one nation, appealing for their unquestionable loyalty and total obedience. He proceeds to say they must harden themselves and prepare for sacrifice, because when the time comes, they will all march together for the sake of their country. I spare most of the details (he does make an appeal to a classless society as well, which will be important for another part), but at some point he says: “I know that it cannot be any other way as we bind ourselves together, for you are flesh of our flesh and blood from our blood."

The fourth day has a World War I memorial ceremony, some more military parades with the SA / SS which showcase the powerful firepower of the nazi party (the paramilitary branch of the party, not even the country’s army proper), and then Hitler makes a speech about the political purge that happened some months before. Afterwards, there’s a (religious-like) consecration ceremony where new flags touch an old bloody flag (the same cloth flag that was said to have been stained by blood of comrades that had sacrificed themselves for the cause, similar to opening song in it’s religious-like symbolism, though not the same event).

Either way, both speeches are intermingled with segments of the people acknowledging and approving of Hitler’s message, some more solemn while others very happy (the kids on the first are especially smiley), cheering him on at the end with their... special salute (obviously). Both speeches (and what comes before or after, the endless military parades and the semi-religious ceremonies) are also examples of the major themes of this movie in general: “religion / messiah” (in quotation marks, so I don’t have to discuss it properly as it’s not straight-forward), power (there are 700,000 people at this rally, with 150,000 people for the SA / SS alone) and unity (drilled over-and-over again > they had just come from a major backstabbing after all).

These speeches are visually shot with unquestionable “leader” and “faceless follower” framings. This is so delibarate that the first one is done with much less pandering to authority (the “leader” is shown with close-ups of his face), since the intent with the youth is for them to identify with the leader / party / country, so the less separation shown between them (while keeping the hierarchy clear), the better for the indocrination process. However, the SA / SS speech is the standard for any Hitler speech (and some of his cronies) in any visual media (any visual media, even in photos), which is why I used it for the illustration for the next section (it’s the only other speech done in daylight, the others are made during the night or indoors, and will illustrate other posts I’ll make).

I’ve attached the imagery used on this second portion below, as well as some observations. I will spare us all screenshots of Hitler doing his crazy faces as well as samples of his screaming voice (and I found a perfectly censored salute screenshot). as most have an idea of that is like anyway. I believe the similarities of these will speak for themselves as well, in comparison to it’s equivalent above.

As you can tell, GoT directors inspired themselves in Triumph of the Will for this scene where Danielle rallies up the Dothraki (and most likely, Bran’s vision as well, which makes that one just as sinister as this speech). The dragon entrance segment is mirrored by the airplane segment (to the point even small details were transposed, like the shadow’s trajectory or the flying rolling), while the speech itself is thematically similar to the Hitler Youth speech and visually framed like the SA / SS speech (or any other nazi media piece as they all use the same tricks). They also emulate the same major themes: “religion // messiah”, power and unity.

Even Danielle’s crazy face and screaming voice is as much of a parallel to her crazy father, as is to the unbeloved Leader public façade that nobody likes being compared to (but that Jack Bender did so, explicitly). Obviously, “Danielle is no Hitler at Nuremberg”, then again nobody in fiction is. The scale of Hitler / Nazi is still unmatched (and I believe that will remain so, fortunately) as the scope of that was immense, but that was true even for Lord of the Rings or Star Wars when they did their own... tribute.

[nonameinanytongue]

Review, Game of Thrones 7.05: Eastwatch

“I’m not the one doing it.”

When a man and his son, defeated in battle, refuse to kneel and are burned alive, who is responsible? When their hair catches fire and the stench of their burning flesh rises up from the blaze, who has done it? When their bodies collapse into ash, who made that fate into reality? The dragon, we can all agree, is blameless, only following its nature. The queen is surely responsible for forcing these men to choose between death and dishonor. There, clarity ends. What about the advisors who failed to sway her from this gruesome choice? The soldiers who fight to support her? The knights who guard her person? Daenerys speaks of breaking the wheel that grinds Westeros beneath its rim, but where do the spokes of that wheel radiate from if not the crown perched on her silver hair? To serve her is to be complicit in her tyranny.

It’s Varys’s perspective on the matter we should listen to. His account of learning how to excuse his own part in the Mad King’s reign of fire is as crushing as anything the show has delivered, a self-loathing monologue about how easy it is to dodge responsibility when the world around you seems indelibly corrupt. In our capitalist world, dependant on literal slave labor and its dressed-up cousin, the sweatshop, it’s a sentiment with which we should all find time to sit. How do we account for ourselves or stay true to our senses of morality in a society so thoroughly infused with wanton violence? There are no easy answers.

The sight of the blasted and carbonized wasteland left behind by Drogon’s rampage is all the more crushing in light of the moments of genuine beauty that leaven the episode’s darker undertones. Daenerys’s reunion with ser Jorah is enough to melt even the hardest heart as the worn and world-weary knight, cast out by his queen and ravaged by plague, is made whole by her forgiving embrace. Theirs is the show’s longest-lasting onscreen relationship, and its improbable salvation is a true moment of grace. Still, what makes Game of Thrones a great show rather than a good one is its refusal to allow us to sit in comfort with that joy. Just moments before, we learned what it means to serve Daenerys without question.

Likewise Jaime’s complicated and uncomfortable position between his sister and his brother. As always, the show refuses to allow us just to hate the man and his rotten sister and be done with it. Cersei and Jaime’s relationship is undoubtedly diseased, but in Jaime’s expression of disbelieving hope at the idea of being openly acknowledged as the father of his sister’s new child (though whether she’s really pregnant or just trying to bind him to her more tightly is, I think, a matter for debate) is the kind of vulnerability it’s hard not to empathize with. These two people have lived their lives on a knife’s edge for decades, and now the prospect of a public life tolerated by the court and the kingdom is within their grasp. They may have climbed a hill of the dead to get there, but whom amongst us hasn’t dreamed of finally allowing our secret shame into the open and finding ourselves accepted rather than mocked?

In Winterfell, the Northern lords grow uneasy in Jon’s absence and press Sansa to take up his throne. Arya, sensing Sansa’s genuine desire to do so behind her public demurral, needles her sister cruelly and suggests beheading a few agitators to cement Jon’s rule. The conflict between the sisters, and Littlefinger’s gamesmanship with a forged scroll claiming Sansa informed on Eddard, who was himself an attempted usurper, is another unfortunate reminder of how their adventures have damaged them, leaving them incapable of trust. Sansa’s admonishment against beheadings as a form of self-satisfaction certainly rings more than a little false in the wake of her revenge against Ramsay, a singular indicator of just how wounded her ability to differentiate between right and wrong has become. The North seems headed for another tragic bloodbath born of misunderstanding, a bold statement showing that the baser instincts of women in power can be as dangerous as those of men.  

The episode’s final sequence is the kind of pure, starry-eyed fanservice one might more reasonably expect from action anime. If you’d told me last week that Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Gendry, Jon Snow, the Hound, Tormund Giantsbane, and Jorah Mormont were going North of the Wall to capture a wight and use it to convince Cersei and Dany to enter a temporary alliance and march their troops to the defense of the living, I’d have rolled my eyes, but fuck me if I wasn’t bouncing in my seat when it became apparent what was happening. This is payoff for seven seasons of the sprawling, slow-moving storytelling critics used to harp on before they switched to complaining about the show going too quickly and eliding too many details, and it rules. Watching seven men we’ve spent years connecting to march into the icy jaws of death, bound to the world behind them by only the frailest thread of hope, is the kind of stomach-plummeting thrill you can only deliver when you’ve set the board as well as Benioff and Weiss have done.

Jon’s brief moment of bonding with Drogon is another moment of pure cinematic wonder as the great horror rushes toward the King in the North only to pause and sniff at him like a cat born out of a nightmare. Just as Viserion and Rhaegal did with Tyrion (and for those of you in the know, evidence points to the fact that the Mad King raped Tyrion’s mother Joanna), Drogon senses Jon’s Targaryen blood. The swirl of prophecy and power that has moved through the show since its earliest episodes has finally begun to take on a fixed shape.

With the Night King on the march and the Seven Kingdoms poised on the brink of destruction, every moment of tenderness and every horrifying vista of death and violence seem all the harder to bear. Now the show is poised to bring its entire cast north to the Wall, an unprecedented condensation of the physical space over which its stories are told, and all of that tangled web of love, lies, pain, and cruelty will, one way or another, unravel.

[dracox-serdriel]

Game of Thrones

Under the cut for series finale spoilers.

Overall, my response to this episode was meh. After last week’s episode, pretty much everything that played out was expected and boring (even Bran’s selection as king was meh).

First, the narrative symmetry is the kind of thing that exists in traditional fantasy stories. The kind of thing the Game of Thrones is supposed to subvert. Yet, Dany was murdered in the Throne Room by being stabbed by someone she trusted to protect her, just as her father was.

One of the selling points of the show was a complete lack of poetic justice (e.g., the good guys don’t always win, the bad guys don’t always get punished). In fact, many of the characters who did the worst things reaped the most reward. So, if Dany really did go full-on tyrant, that shouldn’t have challenged her control of Westeros. After all, wouldn’t it subvert yet another fantasy trope to end a grand epic series with a new (possibly horrifying) tyrant on the throne?

They could’ve subverted the “conquering hero” trope via Dany’s narrative by seriously injuring/killing her in the battle for King’s Landing. (I mean, she rides on the back of a dragon, which has many pointy things fired at it constantly, without any armor. Hmmm, how to kill this character?)

The finale showed

the Unsullied sailing for N’aath

Jon Snow with Ghost, abandoning the Night’s watch to go live free with the Free Folk of the far north

Sansa being crowned as Queen in the North

Arya beginning her explorer’s journey

King Bran the Broken

Tyrion is Hand of the King

Lord/Ser Davos Seaworth is Master of Ships

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, Lord of Highgarden and Master of Coin

Brienne is now Commander of the Kingsguard

Ser Podric Payne is part of the Kingsguard

Samwell Tarley, Archmaester

The finale did not

Mention what happened to the Dothraki

Mention what happened to Mereen, as well as the other cities Danny freed during her time in Essos... presumably, the Second Sons still protect Mereen, but how long will the new governments (and mandates against slavery) last now that Dany is no longer alive to provide aid should they fall?

Tell us Ser Bronn’s last name

Give us the name of the new Prince of Dorne

Introduce Ser Davos’s wife

Mention who the Warden of the West is, or who is Lord of Casterly Rock

Appoint any of the primary leaders to the Small Council (unless Tyrion Lannister is now also Warden of the West?)

Introduce anyone to the small council that we’ve never met before, (despite the fact that Samwell Tarley is not a trained maester and now has the time to actually complete his training)

Introduce any new checks and balances to the system of rulership, except that the succession is decided by all the major Lords of Westeros - which, let’s be honest, is hardly a check at all. There’s nothing mentioned about unilateral appointment (so a majority is all that’s needed) and a current ruler who wants his/her child to inherit the throne will have plenty of influence to throw around during their time as ruler to ensure that outcome.

Break the wheel at all - more like put a hardly noticeable dent it in (after all, even the new Small Council only has 2 members who weren’t born noble, one of whom is now noble by assignment - whereas the previous Small Council had... oh, right, 2 members who weren’t born noble)

One thing that I had expected - but did not happen - was Ser Davos suggesting the establishment of a school. (He is the only character we know who learned a skill as important as reading during late in his life as a key part of his character development.) He was “raised up” by Stannis, which is why he was loyal to the man, even when he did stuff that scared the crap out of Davos.

And isn’t that part of the wheel, this idea that the only way to better things is by some highborn deicing you are worthy? Often they’re doing it for themselves, as it almost always grants them lifelong loyalties.

It seems to me that Ser Davos would be the person to see this best, and to realize that teaching children of non-Lords might be the best way to identify true talent and abilities, giving at least some people the opportunity to change their stations by merit rather than highborn handouts.

Overall, the episode tried to be heavy and harsh and real, but it handed out far too many roses to be real in the way that GoT is real, in any case. The lack of music/background sound should’ve played into the devastation and the weight of the episode. But the complete and utter lack of real stakes in this episode makes the lack of background sound and music feel boring or even lazy.

I feel like the only real moment in this episode - the only one with real emotion, real stakes, real effect - was Drogon trying to wake Dany’s dead body. This is the only real pain we witness from the loss of Dany. Despite her many followers wanting justice for her murder, and despite Jon’s horror at himself for his actions, the only one who seems to genuinely morn her is her last remaining child.

I feel like if this show was trying to be the “real” world represented by the original GoT - the one where Ned Stark lost his head and the Red Wedding took Catelyn and Robb Stark - then at the very least, we should’ve seen something like Ser Brienne’s page(s) of the Kingsguard, listing that she’s defeated every single knight in single combat - because let’s be honest, a woman knight - knighted by, of all people, Ser Jaime Lannister - would not go unquestioned in a world like that. Not that she doesn’t deserve it - but let’s be honest, in the GoT world, who gets what they deserve?

It was also weird that Brann was concerned about Drogon. Or any of the Small Council, really. I suppose if one of Dany’s followers found Drogon and wasn’t immediately eaten/burned to bits, said follower might coax the dragon into some kind of rebellion or warfare in Dany’s name. But that seems rather far-fetched, as the only other human being who has ridden a dragon solo besides Dany was Jon Snow.

Again, the only reaction I have is... meh.